r~  c, 


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I        Shelf, 

Book,  I 


BV    600     .S73 

S-bone,  John  Seely,  1795- 

1882. 
The  church  universal 


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■/V; 


THE  CHUECH  UNIYEESAL 


A  SERIES  OF  DISCOURSES 


ON  THE  TRUE  COMPREHENSION  OF  THE  CHURCH, 


AS    EXHIBITED 


MAINLY  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES 


SUBORDINATELY  IN  THE  STANDARDS  OF  THE  PROTESTANT 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

WITH  THOUGHTS  ON  CHURCH  GOVERNMENT  AND  WORSHIP 

AND 

A   VIEW    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    HEAVEN. 


BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  S.^STONE,  D.  D. 

RECTOR  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,  BROOKLYN. 


NEW-YORK: 

HOUEL   &  MACOY,  PRINTERS,   111   NASSAU  STREET. 
1846. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846,  by 

JOHN    S.    STONE, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New- York, 


TO 


THE  PARISHIONERS  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH, 

BROOKLYN, 

Before  whom  the  substance  of  the  following  little  work  was  delivered  in  the  form  of  a 
Series  of  Discourses,  it  is  now,  in  a  somewhat  enlarged  form, 

ptost  HcspcctfuUs  JDcBicateU; 

With  fervent  desires  that,  in  connexion  with  their  peculiar  privileges  as  members  of  the 
Visible  Church,  they  may  attain  to  all  the  graces  which  can  adorn,  and  to  all  the  blessings 
which  shall  fallow,  membership  in  that  Spiritual  Church,  which  is  the  true  mystical  Body 
of  Christ,  "  the  fulness  of  Him  that  fiUeth  all  in  all ;" 

By  their  affectionate  friend  and  Pastor, 

The  Author. 
Brooklyn,  October  1, 1846. 


rn^^Ql^^^ 


k^ 


Qi^I> 


PREFACE. 


The  form,  in  which  this  little  work  appears,  is  not  such  as  it  would 
have  assumed  had  it  been  originally  prepared  with  a  view  to  its  ap- 
pearance from  the  press.  Each  Discourse  has,  indeed,  been  more  or 
less  enlarged  ;  yet,  the  recasting  of  the  whole  into  the  form  of  a  regu- 
lar treatise,  retaining  none  of  the  peculiarities  of  Pulpit  address,  would 
have  been  a  labor  incompatible  with  the  concurrent  discharge  of  parish 
duties.  So  far,  however,  as  a  passing  change  of  phraseology  could  go, 
those  peculiarities  have  been  laid  aside;  and  the  work  may  therefore 
be  considered  as  blending,  with  some  of  the  proprieties  of  the  Pulpit, 
others  more  befitting  the  Press: — whether  to  the  advantage,  or  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  book,  its  readers  must  judge. 

To  those,  who  have  opportunhy  for  the  comparison,  it  will  be  seen, 
that,  in  several  points,  both  in  the  views  advanced  and  in  the  authorities 
cited,  there  is  a  coincidence  of  thought  and  of  reference  with  the  Ser- 
mon of  Bishop  Mcllvaine  on  "  the  Holy  Catholic  Church."  Indeed,  it 
would  be  wrong  to  suffer  these  pages  to  go  forth  without  carrying  a 
distinct  acknowledgment  as  well  of  the  author's  great  indebtedness  to 
the  contents,  as  of  his  cordial  assent  to  the  views,  of  that  very  able  and 
eloquent  Discourse  and  its  truly  valuable  Appendix.  In  the  Church 
Theory  advanced,  there  is  no  difference  between  that  Sermon  and  the 
present  work.  The  main  difference  between  the  two  lies  in  the  less 
extensive  citation  of  other  writers,  in  the  wider  and  more  formal  range 
of  Scriptural  authorities  and  of  Liturgical  illustrations,  and  in  the  in- 
troduction of  a  greater  number  of  topics,  which  have  been  attempted 
in  the  ensuing  pages. 

In  his  more  special  appeal  to  Scripture,  the  author  has  been  influ= 


6  PREFACE. 

enced  by  an  increasingly  painful  conviction,  that,  unless  scmeihing,  in 
the  Providence  of  God,  arrest  the  Theologic  tendency  of  the  age,  the 
Protestant  Church  will  ultimately  reach  a  state,  in  which  the  argU' 
ment,  in  the  style  of  the  first  Christian  writers  and  apologists,  from  the 
sole,  all-sufficient  authority  of  the  Word  of  God,  will  fall — a  virtually 
dead  weight — on  the  minds  of  a  majority  both  of  Clergy  and  of  Laity, 
What  little  he  can  do  to  lift  into  that  peerless  honor,  which  is  its 
heaven-born  right,  The  Holy  Bible,  as  the  only  infallible  standard 
and  rule  of  faith,  he  is  most  anxious  to  contribute.  To  the  inspired 
Word,  nothing  can  give  either  a  meaning  or  a  certainty,  which  lies  not 
in  its  own  sense :  and  from  it  nothing  but  Inspiration  can  develope  a 
meaning  or  a  certainty,  which  the  human  mind,  as  addressed  in  that 
Word,  and  as  guided  by  the  ordinary  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
by  other  accessible  lights,  is  unable  to  discover.  The  latter  part  of  this 
remark  applies  to  doctrines,  not  to  facts.  Testimony  to  facts,  and  de- 
termination of  doctrines  are  very  different  things.  So  far  as  testimony 
may  be  considered  necessary  to  such  facts,  as  the  application  of  Bap- 
tism to  Infants,  the  change  of  the  Day  of  Rest,  the  origin  of  Episco- 
pacy with  the  Apostles,  and  eren  the  prevalence  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  or  of  any  other  doctrine,  as  a  matter  of  History,  we  may  re- 
ceive that  testimony  if  good  and  sufficient  in  kind  and  amount, — just  as 
we  receive  any  other  good  and  sufficient  human  testimony  ;  regarding 
it  as  adequate  to  the  reasonable  proof  of  any  fact,  possible  under  the 
government  of  God.  But,  we  cannot  receive  any  exterior  documents, 
or  authority,  as  necessary  and  sufficient  to  determine,  with  infallible  cer- 
tainty, what  are  the  otherAvise  undiscoverable  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
without  thereby  elevating  those  documents  and  that  authority  to  a  cer- 
tainty and  a  value  above  those  of  the  Sacred  Records  themselves.  If, 
in  matters  of  doctrinal  truth,  the  Bible — under  the  ordinary  teachings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  amid  the  lights,  with  which  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence has  surrounded  it, — cannot  disclose  its  own  sense  to  that  mind  of 
man  which  it  addresses,  then  nothing,  lower  than  a  new  Revelation, 
can  be  made,  with  certainty,  to  disclose  that  sense.  Such  new  and 
clearer  Revelation,  were  it  given,  could  not  be  safely  received  unless 
accredited  by  miracles  :  and  such  a  Revelation,  so  accredited,  would 
rise  at  once  to  a  certainty  of  authority  and  an  eminence  of  value,  above 
those  of  the  ancient  Bible  itself.  Hence  the  peril  of  receiving  Tradi- 
tion, in  any  form,  as  a  necessary  and  infallible  interpreter  of  the  doc- 
trinal sense  of  the  Bible.  To  be  of  any  higher  authority  than  that  of 
ordinary  human  testimony,  or  of  any  other  value  to  interpretation  than 
that  of  ordinary  human  helps,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit,  Tradi- 
tion must  necessarily  take  rank  with  Revelation  ;  and  when  used  to  fix 


PREFACE.  7 

on  the  doctrinal  sense  of  the  Bible  an  infallible  interpretation  not 
otherwise  discoverable,  must  necessarily  take  rank  above  the  Bible. 
And  yet,  the  Tradition,  of  which  so  much  is  made,  has  none  of  the 
accrediting  miracles  of  a  Ptcvelation.  The  gravest  suspicion  may  well 
be  considered  as  resting  on  ail  pretensions  to  miracles  subsequent  to 
the  Apostolic  age. 

The  fact,  that  Mr.  Newman's  "Essay  on  the  development  of 
Christian  Doctrine "  was  written  after  he  became,  though  before  he 
avowed  himself,  a  Romanist,  destroys  not  its  force  as  a  true  exponent 
of  the  tendency  of  the  Tractarian  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  Tradition. 
The  starting  point  of  that  doctrine  cannot  be  distinctly  and  intelligent- 
ly assumed,  and  the  line  of  that  doctrine  honestly  and  logically  follow- 
ed, w^ilhout  reaching  an  elevation  of  authority  and  of  value  not  only 
with  but  above  the  Word  of  God.  Whether  or  not  the  advocates  of 
that  doctrine  ever  go,  with  Mr.  Newman,  to  the  length  of  receiving  the 
peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  while  admitting  that  those 
doctrines  find  no  support,  or  none  but  the  most  dreamy,  in  the  Bible; 
and  that  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  that  Church  have  been  developed 
in  a  way,  of  which  the  Ancient  fiEKESiEs  were  but  the  premature,  and 
therefore  abortive,  anticipations  ; — whether  or  not  they  ever  reach  this 
extreme  of  bold  but  desperate  honesty, — they,  at  least,  cannot  logically 
stop,  till,  like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  they  have,  however  unintentionally, 
yet  virtually,  "  made  the  Word  of  God  of  none  effect  by  their  Tradi- 
tion." 

For,  or  against  the  Tractarian  doctrine  of  Tradition  ? — this  is  the 
very  heart  of  the  contest,  on  the  decision  of  which  hangs, /or  us,  the 
question.  Papal,  or  Protestant? — whether  this  question  respect  the 
movement  of  the  individual,  or  that  of  the  Church.  If  either  the  indi- 
vidual or  the  Church  declare  for  that  doctrine, — adhesion  to  Rome  is 
the  only  result,  which  lies  in  a  right  line  before  the  mover.  The  indi- 
vidual may  die  before  that  result  is  openly  reached ;  or  various  strong 
influences  may  hold  him  back,  or  turn  him  aside,  from  the  advances  of 
rectilinear  sympathy  and  logic :  but  nothing  else  can  keep  liim  from 
reaching  and  entering  the  gates,  which  open  into  the  enclosure  both  of 
Romish  Theology  and  of  Romish  Rites.  If  Protestants  cannot  be 
convinced  of  this  by  arguments,  there  is,  at  least,  some  prospect,  that 
they  may  be  convinced  of  it  by  facts. 

As  to  the  Theory  of  the  Cliurch,  advanced  in  the  ensuing  pages, — 
the  fact  that  this  Theory  is  identical  with  that,  embraced  and  defended 
by  the  leading  writers  of  the  English  Church  in  the  Sixteenth  and  Sev- 
enteenth Centuries,  is  admitted, — indeed,  it  cannot  be  denied, — by  the  ad- 
vocates of  the  Tractarian  scheme.   The  testimony  of  those  writers  is  too 


8  PREFACE. 

explicit  and  too  harmonious  to  be  disputed,  or  set  aside.  The  only  way, 
in  which  it  can  be  met,  is  thai,  recently  adopted  in  one  of  cur  Church 
periodicals,  which  consists  in  ascribing  that  testimony  to  undue  sympa- 
thy with  the  Continental  Reformed  bodies,  and  to  ignorance  of  the 
value  of  certain  Patristic  testimony,  the  credit  of  which,  it  is  said,  has 
been  since  established.  The  plea,  in  substance,  is,  that  the  English 
and  Continental  Reformers  were  fellow-sulferers  in  the  persecutions, 
which  Rome  waged  against  her  reforming  opponents.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, a  matter  for  wonder  if,  in  their  strong  fellowship  of  feeling  for 
each  other,  and  of  dislike  for  the  common  persecutor,  the  English  wri- 
ters were  led  loo  far  in  admiiling  the  claims  of  the  ncn-Episcopal  Re- 
formed bodies  of  the  Continent  to  the  character  of  Churches,  or  parts 
of  the  one  true  Church  of  Christ.  Besides,  at  the  lime  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  the  Epistles  of  Ignatius  were  not 
free  from  a  suspicion  of  their  authepticity.  This  suspicion  has  since  been 
removed,  and  those  Epistles  are  now  available  to  the  Episcopal  argu- 
ment in  all  the  explicimess  and  s!rength  of  their  testimony.  Had  the 
Ignatian  Epistles  been  in  credit  then  as  they  are  now,  the  English  Re- 
formers and  their  successors  would  not  have  admitted,  as  they  did,  the 
Church  characler  of  the  Continental  Reformed  Christians. 

As  to  the  former  part  of  this  plea, — if  sympathy  under  common 
persecutions  can  make  Protestants  recognize  each  other  as  fellow  mem- 
bers of  Christ,  and  Proiestant  Communions  acknowledge  each  other's 
claims  to  at  least  the  substance  of  Church  character, — there  would  be 
one  blessing,  if  no  more,  in  making  such  persecutions  perpetual  That 
the  English  sympathised  tenderly  with  the  Continental  Reformed 
Christians  in  their  trials,  there  can  be  no  doubt:  but  that  their  sympa- 
thy blinded  their  judgments,  or  made  them  indifferent  to  the  sad  loss  of 
the  Episcopacy  among  their  companions  in  suffering  ;  this  is  a  very  slen- 
der pretence,  opposed  by  abundant  testimony  to  the  contrary.  The  lan- 
guage of  Bishop  Hall  did  not  express  his  own  sentiments  alone,  when 
he  thus  wrote,  concerning  Churches,  which  he  called  England's  "  dear' 
est  sisters  abroad." 

"  Oh  !  how  oft,  and  with  what  deep  sighs,  hath  this  most  flourishing 
and  happy  Church  of  England  wished  that  she  might,  with  some  of  her 
own  blood,  have  purchased  unto  her  dearest  sisters  abroad,  the  retention 
of  this  most  ancient  and  every  way  best  of  governments;"  i.  e.  the  re- 
tention of  government  by  the  Episcopacy. 

"  It  is  not  the  variety  of  by-opinions  that  can  exclude  them  from 
having  their  part  in  the  One  Catholic  Church,  and  their  just  claim  to 
the  Communion  of  Saints.  While  they  hold  the  solid  and  precious 
foundation,  it  is  not  the  hay  or  stubble,  which   they  lay  upon  it,  that 


PREFACE.  9 

can  set  them  off  from  God  and  His  Church.  But  in  the  menn  time, 
it  must  be  granted,  that  they  have  much  to  answer  for  to  the  God  of 
Peace  and  Unity,  who  are  so  much  addicted  to  their  own  conceits,  and 
so  indulgent  to  their  own  interest,  as  to  raise  and  maintain  new  doc- 
trines, and  to  set  up  new  sects  in  the  Church  of  Christ,''''  (not  out  of 
that  Church)  "  varying  from  the  common  and  received  truths  ;  hibor- 
mg  to  draw  disciples  after  them,  to  the  great  distraction  of  souls  and 
scandal  of  Christianity." 

No:  the  English  Reformers  and  their  successors  were  neither  blind 
nor  indifferent,  they  were  keenly  awake  and  alive,  to  the  value  and 
the  obligation  of  Episcopacy  :  and  all  their  sympathy  with  their  suf- 
fering brethren  of  the  Continent  could  not  have  extorted  from  them 
an  acknowledgment  of  Church  character  without  Episcopacy,  had 
they  not,  as  sound  students  of  the  Bible,  been  convinced  tliat  Episco- 
pacy, however  valuable  and  obligatory,  is  not  in  such  sense  essential 
to  the  being  of  the  Church  that,  without  it,  the  Church  cannot  exist. 

As  to  the  latter  part  of  the  plea  ;— itis  true  that  the  Ignatian  Epis- 
tles are  now  admitted  to  be  authentic;  but  it  is  not  universally  con- 
ceded that  they  are  free  from  interpolations.  One  of  the  profound 
Orientalists  of  England,  Mr.  Cureton,  has  recently  published,  and,  by  per- 
mission, dedicated  to  the  Primate  of  the  English  Church,  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  Syriac  version  of  three  of  those  Epistles,  which,  as 
there  is  said  to  be  little  reason  for  considering  them  abridgments, 
would  shew  that  the  expurgated  Greek  copies,  in  ordinary  use, — 
much  as  their  former  contents  have  been  reduced, — still  contain  many 
interpolations.  It  is  remarkable  that,  in  this  shorter  Syriac  version, 
almost  all  the  strong  passages  on  the  side  of  Episcopacy  are  leanting 
Allowing,  however,  that  the  Greek  copies  in  common  use  are  genuine 
as  well  as  authentic;  or  that  Ignatius  actually  Avrote  all  the  strong 
passages  ascribed  to  him,  on  the  subject  of  Episcopacy  ; — this  makes 
him  not  a  teacher  of  the  Tractarian  Theory  of  the  Churoli.  You  search 
those  Epistles  in  vain  for  the  Tractarian  Idea  of  Apostolical  Succes' 
sion ;  i.e.  ;  of  ordination  as  a  virtual  sacrament,  transmitting  not 
merely  office,  but  a  certain  mysterious  and,  as  it  Avere,  miraculous 
sacerdotal  power,  on  the  possession  of  which,  from  the  Apostles' 
hands  through  the  line  of  Bishops  alone,  depend  the  validity  and  effi- 
cacy of  the  other  sacraments  and  of  all  ministerial  acts.  Not  one  of 
the  strong  passages,  referred  to,  represents  ordination  as  tlie  exclusive 
prerogative  of  Bishops :  not  one  speaks  of  it  as  conveying  the  mysteri- 
ous sacerdotal  power,  for  which  the  Tractarian  contends.  Ignatius,  on 
the  supposition  that  he  wrote  those  passages,  was  evidently  pressing 
Episcopacy  as  the  regularly  derived  government  of  tlie  Church  ;  a 


10  PREFACE. 

government  then  universally  received,  but  having  no  necessar\'  affinity, 
with  tlie  idea  of  a  sacerdotal  power  conveyed  in  ordination,  without 
which  there  can  be  no  valid  or  efficacious  ministerial  act. 

A  single  passage  will  illustrate  the  remark,  that  Ignatius  looked  on 
Episcopacy,  as  a  Government,  for  the  Church  rather  than  as  a  channel 
oi  Ordination  for  the  transmission  of  such  sacerdotal  power.  Addressing 
the  Magnesians,  he  says  :  "  I  exhort  you  that  ye  study  to  do  all  things  in 
z.  divine  concord  ;  Your  Bishop  presiding  in  the  place  of  God,  your 
Presbyters  in  the  place  of  the  Council  of  the  Apostles ;  and  your  Deacons 
most  dear  to  me,  being  entrusted  with  a  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ."  This 
Idea, — putting,  for  purposes  of  Goverment,  or  Presidency,  the  Bishop  in 
the  place  of  God,  the  Presbyters  in  that  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Dea- 
cons as  the  servants,  or  ministers,  of  Jesus  Christ, — occurs  repeatedly  in 
his  Epistles;  and  shows  how  little  Ignatius  had  to  do  with  the  Theory 
of  Ordination,  as  transmitting  sacerdotal  power  from  the  Apostles 
through  Bishops  alone.  According  to  Ignatius,  Presbyters,  not 
Bishops,  are  successors  to  the  Apostles. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  English  Reformers  and  writers  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  were  not  unlearned  in  Patristics. 
Usher,  at  Oxford  in  1644,  as  well  as  Vossius,  at  Amsterdam  in  1646, 
was  engaged  most  learnedly  in  the  great  work  of  expurgating  these 
very  Ignatian  Epistles.  The  sacred  scholars  of  England,  in  both  cen- 
turies, studied  the  Fathers  deeply;  though  they  never  exalted  them  to 
an  equality  with  the  Bible.  The  Bible,  too,  they  sWidkdprofoundly : 
and,  being  thoroughly  versed  in  both,  and  withal,  skilled  as  few  or 
none  others  have  since  been,  in  meeting  all  the  turns,  and  foiling  all 
the  movements,  of  the  Romish  argument  on  the  subject  of  the  Church, 
they  were  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  only  Church  theory,  which  can 
stand  this  side  of  an  admission  of  the  entire  claims  of  Rome.  As 
Protestants,  we  must  go  back  to  the  ground  of  the  English  Reformers, 
or  we  sAa// be  either  drawn  or  driven  back  to  the  ground  of  the  Ro- 
mish decrees. 

This  English  Reformation-Theory  of  the  Church, — giving  Episco- 
pacy its  due  place  of  value  and  of  obligation,  yet  leaving  io  all  Chris- 
tians an  open  ground  of  common  membership  in  the  one  Church  of 
Christ ;  a  ground,  on  which  they  may  all  come  together  in  the  glorious 
work  of  ultimately  melting  all  hearts  into  one  feeling  of  love,and  of  unit- 
ing all  mouths  in  one  profession  of  faith  ;  has, — the  writer  believes, — the 
Bible  for  its  base,  and  the  Bosom  of  God  for  its  home.  It  is,  he  is 
persuaded,  the  only  window  in  the  Roof  of  our  Ark,  through  which 
light  from  heaven  can  come  in  upon  the  darkness  of  Christian  divisions 
and  confusions,  and  make  manifest  the  secret  of  peace,  love  and  con- 


PREFACE. 


11 


cord  among  all  who  name  themselves  of  Christ.  Cheerfully,  there- 
fore, and  trustingly  does  he  bid  the  ensuing  little  work  forth,  that  it  may 
be  the  instrument  of  doing  whatever  God  may  allot  as  his  part  in  the 
blessed  work  of  filling  the  world  with  the  spiritual  reign  of  its  One 
Prince  of  Peace. 


Brooklyn,  October  1,  1846. 


CONTENTS. 


PART   I. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  CHURCH  CATHOLIC. 

DISCOURSE  I. 

General  Remarks  on  Eph.  ii ;  19 — 22.  Subject  proposed.  Special  interest 
of  the  subject  at  the  present  day.  Romanist's  definition  of  the  Church  Catholic. 
The  Tractarian's  definition.  A  third  definition  sought.  God's  design  in  the 
Bible,  to  save  sinners.  Requisites  to  salvation.  Union  with  Christ,  individual 
and  immediate.  The  aggregate  of  those  thus  united,  •'  a  peculiar  people." 
Some  of  this  peculiar  people  found  among  all  Christian  denominations.  Case  of 
such  among  non-Episcopalians.  Reasons  why  they  belong  to  the  Church 
Catholic.  Third  definition  of  the  Church  Catholic  deduced.  Difference  be 
tween  this  and  former  definitions.    Close. Page  IS  to  33 

DISCOURSE  II. 

Third  definition  of  the  Church  Catholic  resumed.  Scripture  Testimony  to 
this  definition.  I.  Metaphors.  ].  A  Fold.  John  x;  16,  examined.  2.  A 
Family.  Eph.  iii;  15,  explained  in  connexion  with  vs.  20,  21.  3.  A  Bride. 
Rev.  xxi ;  9,  examined  in  connexion  with  vs.  10,  11,  24,  27.  4.  A  Body.  Rom. 
xii ;  4.  5.  Eph.  ii ;  16:  and  iv  ;  12 — 16,  examined.  5.  A  Temple.  Eph.ii;21, 
examined  in  connexion  with  the  rest  of  the  Chapter,  and  with  i ;  23.  Reason 
why  the  Church,  in  this  sense,  is  addressed  as  imperfect.  Use  of  argument  from 
these  Metaphors.    Close. Page  35  to  4S 

DISCOURSE  III. 
Scripture  Testimony  resumed.  II.  Literal  Passages.  1.  Meaning  of 
Greek  word,  Ecclesia.  2.  Matt,  xvi ;  IS,  explained.  3.  Acts  ii ;  47,  explain- 
ed. 4.  Eph.  i;  22,  23,  explained.  5.  Eph.  iii;  10,  20,  21,  explained.  6.  Col. 
i;  18,  24.  explained.  7.  Eph.  v  ;  25— 27,  explained.  8.  I  Tim.  iii;  16,  explain- 
ed. 9.  Heb.  ii;  10—12,  explained.  10.  Ileb.  xii;  22—24,  explained.  Mutual 
.support  ot  the  metaphors  and  the  literal  passages,  which  have  been  examined. 

Page  49  to  67 


14  CONTENTS. 

DISCOURSE  IV. 
I.  Objection  to  the  theory.  Rational  and  Scriptural  reasons  for  distinguish- 
ing the  Spiritual  from  the  Visible  Church  Catholic.  Comments  on  John  x  ; 
26:  Rom.  ii;  28,29:  Bom.  ix;  6—8:  Gal.  iii ;  7.  Sense,  in  which  the  old 
writers  call  the  true  Church  Invisible.  II.  Importance  to  Christian  theology 
of  the  view,  which  has  been  taken;  1.  To  a  right  understanding  of  Church 
Unity  ;  2.  To  a  right  application  of  Christ's  promises  ;  3.  To  a  right  view  of  the 
Indefectability  of  the  Church.  III.  Testimony  of  our  Standards  to  this 
view.  Reason  for  citing  Devotional  rather  than  Dogmatical  Standards. 
1.  Collect  for  All  Saints'  Day.     2.  Closing  Prayer  in  Communion  Service. 

3.  Language  in  the  Creed,  the  Litany,  and  the  Te  Deum.  4.  Force  of  all  these 
testimonies.       ....        - Page  69  to  83 

DISCOURSE  V. 

Testimony  of  our  Standard  Writers.  Ages  to  which  they  belong, 
1.  Cranmer  2.  Ridley.  3.  Hooker.  4.  Perkins.  5.  Hall.  6.  Taylor. 
7.  Usher.  8.  Jackson.  9.  Barrow.  10.  Sanderson.  Force  of  these  testi- 
monies. Non-juring  doctrines  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  True  use  of  the 
witnesses  cited.    Close. Page  85  to  96 

PART   II. 

THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH  CATHOLIC. 

DISCOURSE  VI. 

Recurrence  to  distinction  between  the  Spiritual  and  the  Visible  Church, 
True  comprehension  of  the  Visible  Church  Catholic  sought.  Our  view  of  the 
Spiritual  governs  our  view  of  the  Visible  Church.  Visible  Church  Catholic 
defined.  1.  Distinction  founded  in  Scripture.  Spiritual  Church  described  in 
the  Bible  as  one,  all  holy,  and  all  in  Christ ;  irrespective  of  times,  places  and  cir- 
cumstances. Visible  Church  described  as  many,  mixed,  and  afiected  by  condi- 
tions of  time,  place  and  circumstance,  2.  Visible  Church,  as  a  Kingdom,  likened 
to  a  Net  ;  and  to  a  Field.  3.  The  theory,  which  makes  Episcopacy  essential 
to  the  being  of  the  Church,  confliets  with  the  Scriptural  account  of  the  one 
Mediator.  True  comprehension  of  Visible  Church  more  fully  stated.  No 
part  of  the  Visible  Church  may  rightly  call  itself  The  Catholic  Church.  Doc- 
trine of  our  XlXth  Article.  Our  Church  does  not  make  Episcopacy  essential 
to  the  being  of  the  Church. Page  99  to  111 

DISCOURSE  VII. 

Doctrine  of  Visible  Church  resumed.  I.  Testimony  of  our  Standards. 
I.  Renewed  reference  to  XlXih  Article.  "  '^ Prayer  for  the  whole  state 
of  Christ's   Church  Militant."      3.    Prayer  at   ihe  Institution  of  Ministers. 

4.  "  Prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men."  5.  Language  of  American  "  Preface  to 
Book  of  Common  Prayer."  Sum  of  Testimony.  II.  Testimony  of  our  Stand- 
ard Writers.  I.Jackson.  2.  Sanderson.  3.  Cosin.  4.  Hooker.  5.  Half.. 
6.  Taylor.  Value  of  their  testimonies.  Importance  of  this  discussion  concern- 
ing the  Visible  Church.    Close Page  113  to  124 


CONTENTS.  15 

DISCOURSE  VIII. 

Requisites  to  the  well-being  of  the  Visible  Church.  Its  ministry.  The 
Church  not  organised  in  the  ministry,  but  the  ministry  set  in  the  Church.  The 
ministry  essential — not  to  the  being,  but — to  the  well-being,  of  the  Church.  The 
primitive  ministry,  Episcopal.  Comment  on  Preface  to  Ordinal.  Difl'erence 
between  the  fact,  and  the  necessity  of  Episcopacy  to  the  being  of  the  Church. 
Reasons  for  retaining  Episcopacy. Page  125  to  133 

DISCOURSE  IX. 

Well-being  of  the  Visible  Church,  resumed.    Schism.    Opposed  to  that  well- 

being.    Schism  defined.    It  separates  not  from  the  Church.    Evils  of  Schism. 

Cure  of  Schism.    No  indifference  to  distinctive  principles  recommended.    The 

cure  of  Schism  practicable. Page  137  to  148 

DISCOURSE  X. 
Well-being  of  the  Visible  Church  further  considered.  Unity.  An  attribute  of 
the  Spiritual  Church.  An  attribute  of  the  Visible  Church.  I.  In  the  Visi- 
ble Church  Unity  consists,  1.  Not  in  subjection  to  one  Temporal  Head.  2.  Not 
in  subjection  to  one  constitution  of  ecclesiastical  government  and  law.  3.  Not  in 
subordination  to  one  form  of  the  ministry.  II.  But,  in  pro/essed  subjection  to 
Christ,  the  one  Divine  Head  of  the  Church.  Visible  Unity  consists  in  pro- 
fessing what  constitutes  True  Unity.  Question  of  returning  to  the  Unity  of 
the  Visible  Church,  considered.  Extent  of  the  obligation  to  an  Apostolic  minis- 
try. Duty  and  privilege  of  Protestant  Christians.  The  Church  has  no  surplus, 
or  common  store  of  merits  to  save  the  individual.  Reference  personal  to  the 
author.    Close. Page  149  to  161 

P  A  R  T  1 1 1. 

VIEWS  OF  GOVERNMENT  AND  WORSHIP. 

DISCOURSE  XL 
Government  of  the  Church.  General  remarks  on  Heb.  xiii;  17.  Subject 
stated.  Cleared  of  things  extraneous.  A  pure,  or  simple  Episcopacy  proposed. 
Advantages  of  such  Episcopacy  in  government.  I.  As  a  Discipline  of  Order. 
II.  As  a  Discipline  of  Teaching.  I.  As  a  Discipline  of  Order.  Episcopacy  is 
centralizing.  A  true  mean  between  Papal  usurpations,  and  Popular  excesses. 
The  Papacy,  not  Episcopacy  developed.  Corruption  of  Episcopacy,  whence  ? 
Springs  of  Popery.  Position  of  simple  Episcopacy.  II.  As  a  Discipline  of 
Teaching,  Episcopacy  has  peculiar  advantages  over  Parity.  Position  of  a 
Teaching  Bishop.  Objection  to  this  view  considered.  Primitive  Model-Bishop, 
False  idea  of  Episcopal  dignity.    Summary  and  conclusion.    -    Page  165  to  183 

DISCOURSE  XII. 

Worship  of  the   Church.     General  remarks  on   John  iv;  23.    Worship  in 

Spirit  and  in  Truth.    No  form  of  Worship,  a  mark  of  comprehension  to  the 

Church.     Liturgical  Worship  may  be  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth.    Comparison  of 

forms.    State  of  the  Church.     True  attitude  of  the  Devotional  mind.     Influ- 


16  CONTENTS. 

ence  of  Extemporaneous  worship  thereon,  during  tendency  to  theological 
change.  Process  described.  Resultof  that  process.  Influence  of  Liturgical  wor- 
ship during  the  same  tendency  lo  change.  Requisites  to  a  defensible  Liturgy. 
Characteristics  of  our  Liturgy.  Its  influence  exhibited.  Conservative  against  the 
Rationalistic  tendency.  Against  extreme  Ritual  tendency.  General  influence  on 
the  whole  Ecclesiastical  Body  through  long  generations.  Comparative  influence 
of  the  two  modes  of  worship  on  the  indevout  m'md.  General  iioints  of  compari- 
son.   The  argument,  lo  whom  unconvincing:  to  whom  convincing.     Close. 

Page  IS5  to  204 

DISCOURSE  XIII. 
The  Church  in  Heaven.  Its  Bishop,  members,  and  Sacraments.  Character- 
istics. 1.  Union,  as  superadded  to  Unity.  2.  Purity,  as  distinguished  from 
holiness.  3.  Sanctity,  as  identical  with  sinlessness.  4.  Illumination,  as  op- 
posed to  Error,  Ignorance,  and  mistake.  5.  Separateness,  as  opposed  to 
worldly  comformity.  6.  Social  Fellowship.  7.  Gloriousness.  S.  Eternal 
Retose.  a  question  to  the  thoughtless.  A  consideration  for  Christians. 
End. Page  205  to  215 


PAET  I. 


THE   SPIRITUAL   CHURCH 


DISCOURSE  I. 


"  Now,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens 
with  the  saints  and  of  the  household  of  God  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  ; 
in  whom  all  the  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord :  in  whom  ye  also  are  buUded  together  for  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit." — Ephesians  ii ;  19-22. 


The  phrase,  "  strangers  and  foreigners, "  in  this  passage, 
refers  to  what  the  apostle  had  said  of  the  Ephesian  Christians 
in  the  twelfth  verse  of  the  chapter.  Speaking  of  their  former 
heathenish  condition,  he  had  said;  "At  that  time  ye  were 
without  Christ,  being  aliens  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Israel, 
and  strangers  from  the  covenants  of  promise  ;  having  no  hope, 
and  without  God  in  the  world. "  They  had  been  strangers 
from  the  covenants  of  promise,  and  aliens,  or  foreigners,  from 
the  Commonwealth  of  Israel.  But,  now  they  were  "  strangers 
and  foreigners  no  longer ;  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  Saints, 
and  of  the  Household  of  God." 

"  The  covenants  of  promise,  "  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks, 
were  not  different  covenants,  but  successive  publications  of 
one  and  the  same  covenant  5  God's  covenant  of  grace  with 
fallen  man.  This  covenant  was  intimated  to  Adam  ;  renewed 
with  Noah;  formally  revealed  to  Abraham;  distinctly  confirmed 
to  Isaac  and  Jacob  ;  delivered  under  sign  and  seal,*  to  Moses; 
committed  to  the  Aaronic  priesthood  in  their  successions  ;  f  and 
finally  ratified  with  the  whole  Israelitish  people,  as  they  were 
about  to  enter  on  the  typic  land  of  Canaan.  X     And  these 

•  Exod.  xii ;  xxxiv ;  27,  2h.       j  Num.  xxv  ;  12,  13.       if  Deut.  xxix  ;  12-15. 


20  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

successive  publications  are  called,  "  the  covenants  of  promise," 
because  they  all  contain,  express  or  implied,  the  one,  great 
promise  of  a  Savior.  Other  promises,  of  a  temporal  nature, 
were  appended  to  the  covenant ;  but  this  was  the  one  infinite 
blessing  secured,  under  whatever  form  that  covenant  was 
published.  To  this  Savior,  the  Seed  of  the  Woman  and  the 
Seed  of  Abraham  pointed  j  and  of  His  work,  the  Paschal  Lamb 
and  the  Sacrifice  of  Atonement  were  most  eminent  types. 

From  this  covenant  of  promise  Heathen  nations  had  ever 
been  strangers.  The  covenant  was  restricted  to  ancient  Israel, 
not  because  to  be  an  Israelite  according  to  the  flesh  was 
necessarily  to  be  a  friend  of  God,  and  an  heir  of  His  promised 
salvation  ;  but  because  that  people  alone,  as  a  nation,  had  been 
chosen  to  be  the  progenitors  of  the  promised  Savior,  and  the 
depository  of  the  outward  formalities  and  privileges  of  the 
Church.  And  the  Heathen  were  left  out  of  the  covenant,  not 
because  the  word.  Heathen,  signifies  an  enemy  of  God,  an  alien 
and  a  stranger  from  His  favor,  but  because,  as  nations,  they 
belonged  to  that  old  world  of  Idolatry,  out  of  which  the 
"peculiar  people  "  had  been  chosen;  to  that  wicked  world, 
which,  by  its  sins,  had  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  privileges  of 
even  an  outward  covenant  with  God. 

Thus,  for  four  thousand  years,  stood  the  world  of  men.  At 
length,  however,  the  Jews,  having  become  wicked  and  arrogant 
under  their  visible  distinction  as  the  "  people  of  God,"  were 
about  to  lose  the  exclusive  external  advantages  of  the  "  covenant 
of  promise  : "  and  the  Heathen,  though  still  covered  with  all 
their  ancient  defilements,  had  yet  passed  through  the  period  of 
exclusion  from  outward  privileges,  and  were  about  to  receive, 
in  common  with  the  Jews,  the  offer  of  the  great,  the  anciently 
promised  salvation. 

But,  as  yet,  a  strong  barrier  of  separation  stood  between  those 
two  portions  of  the  ancient  world.  This  barrier  had  its  visibility 
in  the  marks  and  rites,  which  had  so  long  distinguished  them, 
and  become  the  badges  of  a  deep  and  mutual  hostility ,  and  it 
was  a  barrier  not  to  be  removed,  save  by  the  death  of  Christ. 
At  length,  in  the  "  fullness  of  time,"  "  The  Anointed  "  came  : 
He   came  and  died,  as  the  promised  sacrifice  for  sin :    He 


GENERAL   REMARKS.  21 

died  5  and  with  him  was  slain  that  legal  "  enmity,  "  those 
ceremonial  "  commandments  and  ordinances,"  which  had  so 
long  divided  the  world  in  relation  to  the  Church  of  God. 
The  Cross,  when  it  fell,  broke  down  "  The  middle  wall  of 
partition ;"  and  through  the  irreparable  breach,  the  Church 
passed  out,  carrying  "  the  covenants  of  promise,"  the  offers  of 
salvation,  to  all  mankind. 

It  is  true,  that  when  the  Jews  rejected  and  crucified  their 
promised  Messiah,  they  were  cast  off  from  being  the  people  of 
God.  But  howl  Not  as  individuals,  to  whom  the  possibility 
of  salvation  no  longer  remained  ;  but,  as  a  nation  to  whom  the 
outward  privileges  of  the  Church  were  no  longer  to  be  confined. 
Salvation  itself  was  now  offered  without  the  shadow  of  even  a 
visible  distinction,  to  every  member  of  the  human  family.  The 
death  of  Christ  sunk  completely  out  of  sight  every  ceremonial 
separation  between  Jew  and  Gentile.  In  the  language  of  the 
Apostle  ',  it  made  "  of  twain  one  new  man."  It  brought 
together  in  Christ  believers  from  both  the  great  ancient  members 
of  the  world  ;  securing  to  the  individuals  of  both  a  full  and  equal 
participation  in  the  ofiers  of  eternal  life  through  a  Crucified 
Redeemer.  Through  Christ  all  may  now  "  have  access  by  one 
Spirit  to  the  Father."  Hence  the  language  of  the  Apostle ; 
"  Now  therefore,  ye,"  Ephesian  Gentiles  "  are  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners,"  no  longer  excluded  by  ceremonial  separations 
from  the  privileges  of  the  Church,  but  are  permitted  to  become 
"  fellow-citizens  with  the  Saints,"  and  to  be  "  of  the  household 
of  God  :  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  ;  in 
whom  all  the  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an 
holy  temple  in  the  Lord  :  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together 
for  an  habitation  of  God  through  the  Spirit." 

These  words  contain  a  grand  description  of  the  Church 
Universal :  and,  as  this,  so  far  as  the  Christian  world  is 
concerned,  has  become,  emphatically,  the  great  subject  of  the 
age,  I  feel  justified  in  bestowing  such  time  and  attention  as  I 
may  upon  what  is  so  profoundly  occupying  the  thoughts  of 
almost  every  Christian  of  our  day.  The  Church:  what  is  it  1 
whg]^  is  it  1  and  how  may  I  know  that  I  belong  to  it  1    these 


32-  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

are  the  questions,  which  the  controversies  of  the  times  have 
revived  with  an  interest,  unfelt  for  hundreds  of  years  past. 
After  having  for  a  long  period,  been  put  behind  the  main  truths 
of  Christianity,  these  questions  have  again  been  brought  forward, 
placed  in  the  very  fore-ground  of  our  view,  and  made  to 
demand  a  distinct  and  full  answer.  Such  an  answer  they  must 
and  will  receive,  probably  from  the  present  generation  j  nor 
are  they  so  unrelated  to  the  Christian  teacher's  great  themes, 
Christ  and  His  Cross,  that  they  may  not  properly  be  answered 
even  in  his  ordinary  instructions  as  a  messenger  of  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation.  The  Church,  indeed,  is  not  Christ ;  but 
it  is  Christ's  Body.  The  Church  cannot  stand  in  Christ's  stead 
as  our  Savior  ;  but  it  does  exist  in  the  world  as  His  servant. 
The  Church  cannot  make  a  gospel  ;  but  it  does  preach  the 
gospel.  The  Church  cannot  give  life  through  the  Sacraments ; 
but  it  does  administer  the  Sacraments  of  Him,  who,  through 
Himself,  giveth  life.  When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  the  Church, 
provided  we  speak  right  things,  we  do,  in  truth,  teach  Christ ; 
we  teach  that  in  which  Christ  is  intimately  concerned ;  that, 
which  holds  intimate  relationship  with  Christ. 

In  view,  then,  of  the  truths,  that  the  questions  before  us 
demand  an  answer;  and  that  a  right  answer  is  part  of  the 
message,  which  we  bring  from  Christ,  let  us  proceed  to  seek 
for  some  clear,  and  should  God  so  favor  us,  some  just  conclusions 
on  this  great  topic  of  the  day.  What  is  the  Church,  and  who 
belong  to  it  1  The  Church,  in  its  comprehension,  is  the  theme, 
on  which  we  enter. 

1.  To  the  strict  Romanist,  then,  the  Church,  in  its  unbroken 
Catholicism,  or  Universality,  comprehends  that  visible  society 
only,  which  holds  and  submits  to  its  one  temporal,  human  head  ; 
and  which  under  this  head,  has  communion  in  all  the 
Sacraments  of  that  Church.  All  other  Christian  bodies,  for 
whatever  reason  they  may  have  been  cut  off,  and  however  they 
may  be  called  Churches,  do  not,  in  his  view,  belong  to  the 
one,  Universal  Church  of  Christ.  To  him,  the  Greek,  Armenian, 
Syrian,  and  Coptic  ;  the  English  and  American  Episcopal, 
witli  all  other  Protestant  communities  ;  planted  as  these  various 
bodies  are,  with  all, their  millions,  from  end  to  end  of  the  ea^h, 


DEFINITIONS.  23 

though  they  may  retain  some  portions  of  Christian  truth,  and 
though  many  of  them  as  individuals,  may,  peradventure,  be 
saved ;  yet  are  not  Churches  ;  nor  do  they  belong  to  the  one, 
Catholic  Church  of  Christ  in  the  world.  They  are  but  heretical 
or  schismatic  sects;  and  have  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  true 
Church.  This,  according  to  his  creed,  embraces  only  Rome 
and  her  dependencies. 

2.  Again :  to  those,  who,  though  not  Romanists  are  yet 
eager  to  eschew  the  name  of  Protestants,  the  Church  in  its  real 
Catholicism,  is  somewhat  more  comprehensive.  It  embraces 
all  those  bodies,  which  retain  an  Episcopal  ministry,  and  have 
a  common  union  in  Sacraments  Episcopally  administered. 
This  includes  within  the  Catholic  pale  the  Romish,  Greek, 
and  other  oriental  Churches  ;  together  with  the  English  and 
American  Episcopal.  All  these,  it  is  admitted  exist  as  separate 
Ecclesiastical  organizations.  So  long,  however,  as  they  do  not 
hold  free  intercommunion,  and  acknowledge  one  visible  unity, 
their  separation,  though  it  leaves  them  within  the  Catholic  pale, 
is  yet  one  of  the  sorest  and  most  to  be  deprecated  of  evils  ;  and 
its  removal  is  to  be  sought  as  one  among  the  highest  attainable 
blessings.  But,  at  this  point,  the  limit  of  Catholicism,  with 
this  class,  is  reached.  According  to  the  view,  here  taken, 
all  Protestant  bodies,  not  Episcopally  constituted,  however 
numerous,  full  of  spiritual  life,  and  active  in  spreading  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  and  the  blessings  of  Christianity  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  do  not  belong  to  the  Church.  They  may 
hold  Christian  truth  in  great  purity,  and,  as  individuals,  myriads 
of  them  may  be  saved;  but  they  are  not  Churches,  nor  parts  of 
the  Church.  They  are  but  heretical,  or  schismatic  sects;  and 
their  existence  as  such,  is  an  evil  of  the  gravest,  most  afflictive 
magnitude.  The  Church's  great  labor  should  be  to  reabsorb 
them  into  herself,  while,  at  the  same  time,  she  is  seeking  to 
recover  her  own  lost  visible  unity.  Submission  to  a  Universal 
Episcopacy,  claiming  the  supernaturally  derived  power  of 
conveying  the  Holy  Ghost,  together  with  the  real  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  in  ordination  and  in  sacraments,  is,  upon  this 
theory,  the  indispensable  requisite  not  only  to  the  integrity 
and  perfectness,  but  to  the  very  existence  of  the  Church. 


24  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

3.  Having  thus  exhibited  what  we  may  regard  as,  on  one 
side,  the  two  leading  ideas  of  the  Church  in  its  comprehension, 
I  purpose  now  to  direct  attention,  on  the  other,  to  a  third  ;  that 
the  reader  may  be  able  to  judge  for  himself  which  is  most  in 
accordance  with  the  word  of  God,  and  with  our  own  Protestant 
Episcopal  Standards.  Instead,  however,  of  directly  presenting 
this  idea,  I  prefer  to  approach  it  through  some  previous  views, 
taken  by  the  way  from  Scriptural  positions. 

1.  It  will  be  admitted,  then,  that  the  object  of  God,  in  the 
revelation  of  His  will  and  in  the  incarnation  of  His  Son,  is,  to 
save  men  from  sin,  and  to  bring  them  to  eternal  life.  This 
great  work,  so  far  as  it  is  to  be  wrought  in  the  sinner,  requires 
a  thorough  reconciliation  to  his  Heavenly  Sovereign,  on  the 
simple  terms  of  "  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  5"  *  an  individual  and  hearty  concurrence  in 
the  Divine  Counsel  of  Redemption.  Every  person,  thus 
reconciled,  is  said  to  be  "justified  by  faith,"  and  to  "have 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Every  one, 
thus  reconciled,  is  "  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind,"  lives 
"  a  godly  life,"  grows  in  holiness,  and  has,  even  on  earth,  the 
beginning  of  the  true  life  eternal.  This  eternal  life  now 
"  abideth  in  him  ;"  he  has  already  entered  on  the  foretaste  of 
his  salvation.  Hence  the  words  of  Christ;  "He  that  heareth 
my  word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  5  but,  is  passed," 
passed  already,  "  from  death  unto  life."  f  This  assurance  is 
tied  to  no  observance  of  outward  institutions.  It  brings  to  view 
nothing  but  the  Savior  and  the  sinner;  the  Savior's  word  and 
the  sinner's  faith  ;  that  true  faith,  which  is  always  followed  by 
repentance  and  holiness.  It  is  essentially  an  inner  transaction 
between  Christ  and  the  true  believer.  Wherever  the  Word 
goes  and  is  received  into  the  faith  of  the  heart,  there  is  the 
basis  of  the  divine  assurance,  "  he  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life."  This  is  the  reason,  not  merely  why  there  shall  be,  but, 
why  "  there  is,  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  Angels  of  God  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth."    His  repentance  is  the  first  step  out 

*  Acts  XX  ;  21.  t  John  v  ;  24. 


REQUISITES    TO   SALVATION.  25 

of  that  faith,  which  taketh  hold  on  eternal  life.     The  Angels 
see   in   it   another  victory  for  Christ ;  another   soul   already 
"passed  from  death  unto  life."    The  Scriptures  are  full  of  this, 
peculiar  teaching;  the  assurance   of  salvation  to  every  one, 
whatever  be  his  outward  circumstances,  that  truly  believes  in 
Christ.     "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved."     "  Christ   is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
every  one  that  believeth."     "  There  is  no  difference,"  says  the 
Apostle,  "between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek ;"  the  most  and  the 
least  privileged  ;  "  for  the  same  Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all 
that  call  upon  him.     For,  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of 
the  Lord  shall  be  saved."     Whosoever  calleth,  in  that  '*  faith, 
which  Cometh  by  hearing,  as  hearing  cometh  by  the  word  of 
God,"  "  shall  be  saved."     Whosoever.    It  is  impossible  to  find 
a  man,  with  this  faith,  under  such  peculiar  circumstances  as  to 
invalidate  the  truth  of  this  assurance,    "  he  shall   be  saved^" 
The  Eternal  Father  hath  so  bound  himself  to  this,  that  He 
would  not  be  "just"  were  he  not  also  "  the  justifier  of  him  that 
believeth  in  Jesus,"  whenever  and  wherever  this  believer  may 
be  found.     Both  "  the  law  and  the  prophets,"  as  well  as  the 
gospel,  concur  in  the   "  witness,"  that  "  the   righteousness  of 
God,  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  unto  all  and  upon  all  them 
that  believe."     As  "  all  have  sinned,"  and  are  alike  in  that 
article,   so,    among   all    who   have   this   faith,    "  there   is   no 
difference  :"  nothing  can  make  a  difference  in  favor  of  one 
and  against  another,   in  whom  this   faith  dwelleth.     "  Jesus 
said ;  I  am  the  Bread  of  life  :  he  that  cometh  to  me,"  whoever 
he  may  be,  and  whatever  his  outward  lot,  "  he  that  cometh  to 
me  shall  never  hunger  ;  and  he  that  believeth  on  me  shall 
never  thirst."     "I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  :  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  ;  and 
whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me,  shall  never  die."     "  For 
God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  *    There,  Christian  reader,  is  the  Gospel  and 
nothing  but  the  Gospel.     We  must  convict  the  solemn  Trinity 

*  Acts  xvi ;  31.— Rom.  x ;  4,  12,  13.— iii ;  21,  22,  26.— John  vi ;  35.— xi ;  25, 
26.— Ui  J  16. 


26  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

of  falsehood  before  we  can  take  eternal  life  from  him  that  truly 
believes  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  matters  not  by  what  name  he  is 
called,  or  in  what  connection  he  is  found  ;  if  he  have  this  faith, 
whole  and  uncorrupt,  in  his  heart  as  well  as  in  his  head,  he 
"  hath  eternal  life,"  and  no  man  can  take  from  him  that  "  gift 
of  God." 

But,  why  does  the  Scripture  make  so  much  of  this  faith  ? 
Because  this  alone  constitutes  the  Christian  character  1  No. 
But  because  it  cannot  in  that  character  be  alone.  It  is,  under 
the  Spirit,  the  parent  of  all  other  holy  graces.  This  truth,  in 
former  times,  drew  from  Bishop  Hall  the  cry  ;  "  0  the  grace 
of  faith  !  justly  represented  to  us  by  St.  Paul,  above  all  other 
graces  incident  unto  the  soul,  as  that  which,  if  not  alone,  chiefly, 
transacts  all  the  main  affairs  tending  to  salvation.  For  faith  is 
the  quickening  grace ;  the  directing  grace ;  the  protecting 
grace,"  the  establishing  grace;  the  justifying  grace;  the 
sanctifying  and  purifying  grace.  Faith  is  the  grace,  which 
assents  to,  apprehends,  applies,  appropriates  Christ ;  and 
hereupon  it  is  the  uniting  grace  ;  and  (which  comprehends 
all),  the  saving  grace." 

In  the  texts,  thus  far  cited,  we  see  the  simple,  essential 
requisites  to  salvation  under  the  gospel ;  those,  without  which 
no  man,  to  whom  the  word  of  God  comes,  can  be  saved  ;  and 
"Vvith  which  any  man  may  and  will  be  saved.  Let  us  now  take 
one  farther  step. 

2.  Every  one,  in  whom  the  required  faith  is  found,  has  a 
direct  and  personal  union  with  Christ ;  so  that  he  draws  his 
spiritual  life,  not  by  succession  from  another  believer,  but 
immediately  from  the  Savior  himself.  Nothing,  however  thin, 
intervenes  between  the  two.  By  faith  the  believer  is  "  in 
Christ ;"  and  by  the  same  faith  Christ  "  dwells  in  the  believer's 
heart."  This  mystic  union  between  Christ  and  each  individual 
Christian  is  as  close  and  as  perfect,  as  though  Christ  and  each 
individual  were  the  only  ones  in  all  the  world  concerned  in  that 
union.  As  a  foundation,  Christ  is  as  broad  as  the  realm  of  sin, 
and  as  long  as  the  age  of  grace  ;  so  that  every  true  believer 
touches,  immediately,  and  for  himself,  that,  on  which  he  is 
builded.     In  this  peculiar  union,  there    is,  not  a  miraculous 


UNION   WITH   CHRIST    IMEMDIATE.  27 

impartation  of  the  Divine  substance,  but,  a  real  derivation  of 
the  Divine  life  :  and  faith  is  the  grace,  by  which  the  heavenly 
derivation  is  realized.  Faith  brhigs  the  soul  to  the  spring- 
head in  Christ ;  faith  drinks  of  the  living  water,  which  He 
gives.  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him,  shall  never  thirst,  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him, 
shall  be  in  him,  a  well  of  water,  springing  up  into  everlasting 
life."  "  I  am  the  vine  ;  ye  are  the  branches ;  he  that  abideth 
in  me  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit." 
"If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature."  "That 
Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith."  "  Ye  are  not 
in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit ;  if  so  bet  hat  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwell  in  you  :  but  if  ye  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  ye  are 
none  of  His."  "  Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  "  He 
that,"  with  an  appropriating  faith,  "  eateth  my  flesh  and 
drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  in  him."  *  These 
are  some  of  the  passages,  in  which  this  sacred  union  is  indicated ; 
and  they  shew  that,  while  Christ  holds  this  union  with  all,  who 
truly  believe  in  Him,  he  still  holds  it  with  each,  separately 
and  severally.  Each  single  Christian  holds  this  living 
connexion  and  communion  with  the  Savior,  as  immediately 
and  as  closely,  and  draws  life  therefrom  as  largely  and  as 
perfectingly,  as  though  himself  and  the  Savior  were  the  only 
beings  concerned  in  the  divine  afhnity. 

I  have  thus  shewn,  from  the  inspired  Word,  what  it  is  that 
essentially  characterizes  the  true  Christian,  and  what  is  the 
relation,  which  he  sustains  with  Christ,  his  divine  head.  We 
are  now  prepared  for  a  still  further  movement. 

3.  There  are,  then,  in  the  world,  as  there  have  been  from 
the  beginning,  and  will  be  to  the  end,  a  steadily  growing,  and 
at  length  a  very  great  company  of  human  beings,  sustaining 
the  character  and  the  relation,  which  I  have  just  explained  ; 
the  character  of  true  believers  in  Christ,  the  relation  of  a  holy, 
individual  union  with  Christ.  These,  as  represented  in  the 
Bible,  and  as  found  in  fact,  are  an  exceedingly  "  peculiar 
people."     There    are  none  like  them  in   all  the  world.     In 

*  John  iv  ;  14.— xv  ;  5.-2  Cor.  v  ;    17.— Eph.  iii ;  17.— Rom.  viii ;  9.— Col. 
iii ;  3. — John  vi ;  56. 


^  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

many  outward  respects,  they  seem  like  common  men  ;  but,  in 
the  depths  of  their  being,  they  are  quite  unlike  all  others.  They 
are  stamped  with  the  lineaments  and  features  of  quite  another 
nature.  If  what  has  been  wrought  within  could  be  laid  open 
to  ihe  eye  of  sense,  they  would  instantly  be  known  from  other 
men,  all  over  the  earth,  and  throughout  all  heaven.  Gathered 
from  whatever  nation  or  kindred,  and  marked  by  whatever 
peculiarities  or  inequalities,  they  would  yet  be  found,  in  their 
main  characteristics,  alike  ;  shaped  by  the  same  divine  hand, 
stamped  with  the  same  spiritual  features,  passing  through  the 
same  general  experience,  belonging  to  the  same  great  company, 
and  tending  to  the  same  sublime  destiny. 

Now,  this  exceedingly  "peculiar  people"  are  found,  not 
exclusively  within  the  lines  of  any  one  Christian  community, 
but,  in  greater  or  less  numbers,  within  the  limits  of  all :  some, 
doubtless,  even  among  the  most  corrupt  of  those  communities; 
and  myriads  among  those,  which  rise  nearest  to  primitive  purity. 
Here,  however,  comes  in  view  a  remarkable  fact.  A  very 
considerable  number  of  this  "peculiar  people"  are  found  in 
Christian  communities,  which  neither  submit  to  one  temporal 
human  head,  nor  receive  an  Episcopal  ministry  and  sacraments. 
They  are  known  by  various  human  names  :  but,  in  character 
and  relation,  they  belong  to  that  same  "  peculiar  people,"  who 
have  been  described.  They  have  all  the  lineaments  and 
features ;  all  the  views  and  experience  of  that  people  ;  every 
thing,  which  can  mark  them  as  belonging  to  the  same  spiritual 
race.  Of  this,  there  can  be  no  question.  If  the  true  though 
hidden  characters  and  relations  of  the  whole  holy  company 
were  laid  open,  this  portion  of  them  would  be  seen,  before 
earth  and  heaven,  to  be  identical  with  all  the  rest.  What, 
then,  is  the  relation,  which  these  acknowledged  Christians, 
thus  destitute  of  the  Episcopacy,  bear  to  the  one,  true  Church 
of  Christ  1  * 

This  question  is  important.  I  have  no  undue  sympathy  with 
those,  who  refuse   to   receive    an  Episcopal  ministry.     Still, 

*  It  will  be  seen  that  I  am  speaking — not  of  non-Episcopal  communities,  in 
the  mass,  but — of  those  among  them,  who  answer  to  the  foregoing  description 
of  God's  "  peculiar  people." 


CASE    OF   NON-EPISCOPAL    CHRISTIANS.  29 

their  existence  in  such  considerable  numbers,  and  with  such 
undeniable  evidence  of  identity  with  the  "  peculiar  people," 
is  a  grave  and  weighty  fact,  of  which  we  must,  in  some  way, 
dispose.  Again,  therefore,  I  ask  ;  what  is  the  relation,  which 
they  bear  to  the  one,  true  Church  of  Christ  1  This  question  is 
important,  chiefly  from  the  consideration;  that  if  the  Christians, 
now  in  view,  belong  to  the  one,  true  Church,  then  our  proposed 
search  for  a  third  idea  of  this  Church,  different  from  either  of 
the  two,  which  have  been  propounded,  is  indispensably 
necessary.  Do  these  Christians,  then,  belong'  to  the  one,  true 
Church  of  Christ  1  The  advocates  of  both  those  theories 
answer  ;  they  do  not.  I  am  constrained  to  the  opposite  reply  ; 
they  do  belong  to  this  Church.  My  reason  for  saying  this 
must,  for  the  present,  be  briefly  given. 

Either,  then,  they  belong  to  this  one,  true  Church,  or  they 
are  saved  without  belonging  to  any  Church.  Now,  whether 
God  ever  saves  men,  where  Christ  is  unknown,  or  when  it  is 
impossible  to  confess  Him  before  the  world,  it  is  not  necessary 
here  to  inquire.  This,  however,  may  be  safely  said ;  where 
the  Gospel  is  preached  ;  where  the  Holy  Spirit  is  sent  forth  to 
apply  that  Gospel ;  where  Christ  is  thus  fully  made  known  ; 
and  where  men  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  confess  him  before 
their  fellow  men  ;  there  God  saves  no  man  but  in  His  one 
appointed  way,  on  the  terms  of  His  one,  unchangeable  covenant 
of  grace,  and  as  a  member  of  His  one,  true  Church.  Under 
the  conditions  here  assigned,  I  hold  the  doctrine  to  be  strictly 
true,  that,  "  out  of  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation."  It  is 
only  when  a  wrong  idea  of  the  Church  is  embraced,  only  when 
a  particular  ecclesiastical  body  arrogates  to  itself,  exclusively, 
the  style  and  prerogatives  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  that  the 
doctrine  becomes  not  only  false  but  impious.  When  the  word, 
Church,  is  rightly  understood,  and  is  used  within  the  conditions 
just  named,  the  doctrine  is  both  true  and  precious;  that  "out 
of  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation."  But,  the  Christians,  of 
whom  we  speak,  obtain  salvation  ;  and  they  are  saved  within 
the  specified  conditions.  They  are  saved  by  means  of  the 
Gospel,  through  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  by  the  renewing  of 


30  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  a  confession  of  the  truth,  and  of  the 
true  Savior  before  men.  They  are  saved  as  all  other  Christians 
are  saved.  They,  therefore,  belong  to  the  one  true  Church  of 
Christ. 

If,  by  the  opposite  opinion,  it  be  meant,  that,  though  saved, 
yet  they  are  not  members  of  the  Church  in  the  sense  of  either 
of  the  two  definitions,  already  given,  this  is  but  saying  that 
they  are  neither  Romanists  nor  Episcopalians.  But,  if  it  be 
meant  that,  though  saved,  yet  they  are  not  members  of  the 
Church  in  any  sense,  then  it  may  be  asked  ;  what  essential 
necessity  for  a  Church  exists  1  If,  from  age  to  age,  myriads 
are  saved  where  the  full  light  of  Christ  is  shining,  and  where 
the  full  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  sent  forth,  while  yet  they 
belong,  in  no  sense,  to  the  Church,  then,  the  Church,  instead 
of  being  exalted  and  shewn  to  be  divinely  necessary,  is 
degraded,  and  shewn  to  be  of  comparatively  little  worth.  Men 
may  be  saved  without,  as  really  as  within,  its  enclosure  ; 
without,  as  truly  as  with,  its  name.  The  Church,  as  to  her 
specific  difference,  is  brought  down  to  the  rank  of  a  mere 
keeper  of  manuscripts,  and  regulator  of  forms.  All  higher 
attributes  and  privileges,  all  more  spiritual  functions  and 
influences,  it  only  shares  in  common  with  a  body  of  Christians, 
who  belong  not  to  its  communion.  The  moment  we  say  that 
these  higher  attributes  and  privileges,  these  more  spiritual 
functions  and  influences,  whereby  alone  Christian  men  are  saved, 
are  not  partially  and  accidentally,  but  exclusively  and  in  the 
design  of  God,  enjoyed  by  the  Church  (and  this  I  hold  to  be 
the  true  doctrine),  the  moment  we  take  this  position,  we  compel 
ourselves  to  admit  that  this  other  body  of  Christians,  who  share 
these  attributes  and  privileges,  these  functions  and  influences, 
and  are  saved  thereby,  belong  to  the  Church.  There  is  no  way 
of  evading  this  conclusion  but  by  admitting  that  the  Church 
merely  shares  the  highest  and  richest  means  of  salvation  with 
a  body,  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Church. 

But,  if  these  Christians  belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  then, 
clearly,  so  far  as  its  comprehension  is  concerned,  neither  of 
the  definitions,  which  have  been  given,  is  right  j   and  we  are 


FURTHER    DEFINITION.  31 

compelled  to  seek  a  third  idea  of  the  one  true  Church.  What, 
then,  is  this  third,  this  more  comprehensive  idea  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  1 

The  answer  comes  from  what  has  already  been  said.  Without 
denying,  but  rather  cordially  holding,  that,  in  one  important 
sense,  the  word,  Church,  may,  with  strict  propriety,  be  applied 
to  a  particular  ecclesiastical  organization,  and  that  it  actually 
is  so  applied  in  the  Bible,  in  history,  and  in  common  usage  ; 
it  is,  nevertheless,  plain,  that  what  has,  thus  far,  been  said  leads 
directly  to  this  definition ;  iThe  Church,  in  its  highest,  largest, 
truest  sense,  is,  that  great  spiritual  company  of  true  believers 
in  Christ,  who,  in  the  main,  hold  His  truth  whole  and  uncorrupt, 
and  who,  by  His  sole  divine  agency  and  power,  are  saved  from 
sin  and  everlasting  death.  In  this,  its  highest,  largest,  truest 
sense,  the  Church  is,  precisely,  the  whole  company  of  that  very 
"peculiar  people,"  whose  character  and  relation  to  Christ  I 
have  already  set  forth.  This  great  company  exists  both  in 
heaven  and  upon  earth  ;  and  it  is  gathered  and  to  be  gathered 
from  the  present,  from  all  past  and  from  all  coming  ages.  And 
this,  with  Bishop  Taylor,  I  understand  to  be  the  sense  of  what 
we  profess  to  believe  in  the  Creed  ;  "  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
the  Commnnion  of  Saints."  The  Body,  thus  named  in  the 
creed,  is  not  merely  in  name,  or  by  a  fiction  of  language,  or 
by  charitable  supposition,  but,  in  reality,  in  the  truth  of  words, 
and  in  the  sight  of  God,  a  Holy  Church.  It  is  literally  a 
''  Communion  of  Saints."  It  comprises  all,  of  whatever  age 
or  country,  of  whatever  name  or  connexion,  who,  in  the  main, 
hold  the  truth  of  Christ  whole  and  uncorrupt,  and  are  saved  by 
Him  from  sin  and  eternal  death.  It  is  a  "  Communion  of 
Saints  j"  or,  of  those  truly  holy  men,  who  have  a  common, 
union  with  Christ  in  His  truth.  His  life  and  His  salvation. 
These  alone  are  His  Spiritual  Body  ;  and  He  alone  is  their  one 
Head.  They  alone  are  His  true  Temple  ;  and  this  Temple 
alone  is  filled,  truly  and  always,  with  His  divine  and  sanctifying 
presence. 

Nor  is  this  Body,  thus  holy,  merel}'-  called  a  Church  ;  as  if, 
by  a  figure  of  rhetoric,  it  were  honored  with  a  name  really 
belonging  to  something  else,  to  which  it  is  related  j  but  it  is, 


32  THE    CHURCH    UNrV'ERSAL. 

by  eminence,  the  Church  ;  in  its  best,  its  original  sense,  the 
Church  of  Christ  ;  and,  instead  of  receiving,  it  gives  its  name 
to  whatever  is  analogically  called  a  Church.  Christ  first 
constituted,  and  has  ever  since  enlarged  the  Church,  by 
gathering  and  "  adding  to  it  those  who  are  saved."  (touj 
tfwi^ojULivouj:.)*  The  Savior  and  the  saved  are  the  first  and  funda- 
mental elements,  as  well  as  the  last  and  finished  development, 
of  His  Church. 

The  difference  between  this  idea  of  the  Church,  and  both  the 
previous  definitions  of  it,  which  have  been  given,  will  be  seen 
by  observing,  that  the  Church  is  not,  in  itself,  an  agent  in  saving 
men,  but  the  great  company  of  men  saved,  in  spiritual  union 
with  Christ  their  Savior.     The  difference  is  essential. 

I  say  not  that,  in  no  sense,  does  the  Church  use  means  for 
saving  men.  As  an  organized  Body,  such  means  have  been 
graciously  entrusted  to  its  use.  This,  however,  does  not  make 
the  Church,  in  itself,  an  agent  in  saving  men,  any  more  than 
medicine,  put  into  the  hands  of  a  Physician,  makes  the 
Physician  himself  a  medicine,  or  constitutes  him  the  power, 
which  gives  that  medicine  its  effect  in  healing  the  sick.  To 
make  the  Word  and  sacraments  to  be  "  of  the  essence"  of  the 
Church,  prepares  the  way  for  making  the  Church  itself,  in  a 
sense  co-ordinate  with  Christ,  an  agent  in  saving  men  ;  and 
may  well  account  for  the  fact,  that,  in  the  teaching  of  some, 
the  Church  so  nearly  puts  the  Savior  out  of  sight.  What  I 
mean,  in  the  distinction  taken,  is,  that  the  Church  is  not,  in 
any  sense,  itself  an  agent  in  saving  men.  In  its  first  and  true 
idea,  it  is  just  the  whole  company  of  men  saved,  in  spiritual 
union  with  Christ  their  Savior.  Christ  and  the  great  company 
of  those,  who  live  in  Him  by  faith,  and  in  whom  He  lives 
through  faith,  this  is  the  very  essence  of  the  Church  ;  that, 
without  which  the  true  Church  cannot  exist ;  that,  with  which 
it  cannot  but  exist.  The  importance  of  keeping  this  idea 
distinctly  in  mind  can  hardly  be  overrated. 

Thus  far  I  have  merely  been  seeking  a  definition  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  its  true  comprehension.     Hereafter,  I  hope 

*  Acts  ii ;  47. 


DEFINITIONS   DISTINGUISHED,  33 

to  shew  that  this  definition  is  consonant  both  with  the  Word  of 
God  and  with  our  own  Standards ;  after  which  it  is  my  purpose 
to  direct  attention  to  what  has  become  the  more  ordinary 
acceptation  of  the  word  ;  to  the  Church  as  a  visible  and 
organized   body. 

I  cannot  close  the  present  view  without  pressing  a  question, 
which  grows  out  of  all  that  I  have  now  said.  Do  we,  each  for 
himself,  belong  to  the  true  Church  of  Christ  1  This  is  not  a 
question,  touching  mere  outward  relations.  Our  being 
members  of  a  visible  ecclesiastical  organization,  does,  by  no 
means,  settle  this  question.  Are  we  included  among  the 
"peculiar  people,"  whom  I  have  described  1  We  must  be,  or 
we  cannot  belong  to  Christ  and  be  saved  by  Him.  Our  souls 
must  be  in  Him  by  faith  ;  and,  by  faith  we  must  draw  life 
directly  from  Him.  If  we  are  His  in  an  external  sense  only,  all 
the  present  names  and  badges  and  privileges  of  our  Christian  lot 
w^ill  be  but  so  many  aggravations  of  our  guilt  and  wretchedness, 
when  we  come  to  stand  before  God.  If  we  are  Christians  only 
in  outward  shew,  all  those  names,  badges  and  privileges,  will 
then  be  but  so  many  splendid  patches  upon  the  dark  garment 
of  our  shame;  enhancing,  by  the  very  strangeness  of  their 
contrast,  the  ignominy  and  the  misery  with  which  we  shall  be 
inwardly  consumed. 

God  give  us,  each  and  all,  a  discerning  eye,  that  we  may 
see  our  true  condition  now;  so  that,  if  we  are  not  already  "in 
Christ"  by  faith,  and  growing  through  Him  in  holiness,  we 
may  seize,  before  it  be  forever  lost,  our  opportunity,  for  being 
"  found  of  Him  in  peace,  without  spot  and  blameless." 


DISCOURSE  II. 


'"■  Now,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens 
with  the  Saints  and  of  the  household  of  God  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himselt  being  the  chief  corner-stone: 
in  whom  all  the  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  unto  an  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord :  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit." — Ephesians  ii ;  19-22. 


These  words,  I  have  already  remarked,  contaia  a  grand 
description  of  the  Church  Universal,  the  one  true  Church  of 
God.  They  shew  it  to  be,  as  represented  in  the  language  of 
the  Creed,  "  The  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  Communion  of 
Saints."  This  Church  is  the  great  company  of  those  holy 
ones,  who  have  a  common  union,  by  faith,  with  Christ,  their 
sole  Head ;  who  hold  His  Truth,  in  the  main,  whole  and 
uncorrupt ;  and  who  are  saved,  by  His  sole  agency  and  power, 
from  sin  and  everlasting  death. 

This  idea  of  the  Church,  so  far  as  it  was  brought  out  at  the 
close  of  my  first  discourse,  was  drawn  from  the  language  of 
the  Bible,  descriptive  of  the  true  Christian,  and  of  his  individual 
relation  to  Christ. 

But  it  will  be  asked,  are  there  any  passages  in  the  Bible, 
which,  while  describing  the  great  company  of  true  believers, 
thus  individually  united  to  Christ,  represent  them  as  the 
Church  "?  Are  there  any  Scriptures,  intentionally  describing 
the  Church  itself,  which  contain  the  basis  of  the  idea  just 
presented  '? 

This  question  will  lead  me  to  an  examination  of  two  sets  of 
passages  j  the  true  sense  of  which,  as  I  apprehend,  will  shew 


36  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

that  this  idea  is  sustained  by  the  teaching  of  the  Inspired  Word. 
One  of  these  sets  of  passages  presents  the  Church  under  certain 
metaphors  j  the  other  presents  it  under  its  own  proper  name. 

I.  First,  then,  passages  which  present  the  Church  under 
certain  metaphors. 

1.  In  the  tenth  Chapter  of  the  Gospel  by  St.  John,  Christ 
presents  His  One  True  Church  under  the  metaphor  of  a 
"  Fold."  The  relation  between  Him  and  His  people,  in  this 
figure,  is,  of  course,  that  of  the  Shepherd  and  his  Sheep.  Some 
of  the  language,  which  He  employs  in  carrying  out  the  figure, 
is  as  follows  :  "  He  that  entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the 
sheepfold,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber."  "  I  am  the  door, 
by  me  if  any  man  enter  in  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in 
and  out  and  find  pasture.  The  thief  cometh  not,  but  for  to 
steal,  and  to  kill,  and  to  destroy  ;  I  am  come  that  they  might 
have  life,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly.  I  am 
the  good  Shepherd  ;  the  good  Shepherd  giveth  His  life  for  the 
Sheep."  "  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  Fold  ; 
them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice  ;  and 
there  shall  be  One  Fold,  and  One  Shepherd."  "  My  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow  me  ;  and  I 
give  unto  them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall  never  perish, 
neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father, 
who  gave  them  me,  is  greater  than  all,  and  no  man  is  able  to 
pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand.  I  and  my  Father  are 
One." 

Now,  here,  under  this  idea  of  a  Fold,  with  a  Shepherd  and 
his  sheep,  we  are  evidently  presented  with  the  one,  true  and 
whole  Church.  Of  whom,  then,  does  it  consist  1  Of  none 
but  the  Shepherd  and  his  sheep  ;  those,  and  those  only,  who 
"  enter  in  by  Christ,  and  are  saved  ;"  who  "hear  His  voice,  and 
follow  Him  ;"  to  whom  He  "gives  eternal  life,  and  who  shall 
never  perish."  The  Fold,  which  encloses  both  the  flock  and 
its  Shepherd,  if  explained  separately,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
securities  and  guaranties  of  that  fixed  and  unchangeable 
Covenant  of  Grace,  within  which,  the  whole  sacred  company, 
in  their  spiritual  union  with  Christ,  are  securely  held.     But, 


METAPHORS,   THE  CHURCH  A  FOLD;  A  FAMILY.     37 

if  the  whole  figure  be  interpreted  together,  The  Fold  and 
those  whom  it  Contains,  it  will  then  represent  the  one,  true 
and  whole  Church  of  Christ ;  both  that  part  which  had  been 
saved  before  His  advent,  and  that  which  was  to  be  saved 
afterwards.  "  Other  sheep,"  says  Christ,  "  I  have,  which  are 
not  of  this  fold;  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear 
my  voice  ;  and  there  shall  be  One  Fold  and  One  Shephekd." 
That  is,  "  my  sheep  among  the  Gentiles  arc  not  yet  actually 
gathered  in  ;  but  they  are  mine,  and  gathered  in  they  shall  be. 
The  Fold  is  one,  and  the  Shepherd  one  ;  and  when  the 
gathering  is  ended,  eternity  shall  receive  the  whole  to  the 
fulness  of  my  salvation.'  In  this  place,  the  metaphoric  term, 
Fold,  clearly  means,  the  one,  whole  enfolded  flock,  who  are 
to  be  saved,  from  first  to  last,  under  the  security  of  the  eternal 
covenant  of  grace,  and  in  union  with  Christ,  their  only  and 
Divine  Head.  Here,  then,  is  one  scriptural  view  of  the  true 
and  whole  Catholic  Church  of  Christ,  in  perfect  coincidence 
with  the  idea  which  I  have  presented. 

2.  Take  another.  In  the  third  Chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians,  St.  Paul  presents  the  same  blessed  company  under 
the  metaphor  of  a  "  Family."  "  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees 
unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole 
Fabiily  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  He  would  grant 
you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  to  be  strengthened 
with  might  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man  ;  that  Christ  may 
dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints, 
what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height ;  and  to 
know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge  ;  that  ye 
might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God.  Now,  unto  Him 
that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly,  above  all  that  we  ask 
or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him 
be  glory  in  the  Church,  by  Christ  Jesus,  throughout  all  ages, 
world  without  end." 

It  needs  no  comment  to  convince  us  that,  what  is  here 
termed  "the  whole  family,"  which  takes  its  name  from  Christ, 
which  exists  "  in  heaven  and  earth,"  in  whose  "  hearts  Christ 
dwelleth  by  faith,"  who  are  "  all  saints,"  and  who  are,  sooner 


38  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

or  later,  to  be  "  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God,"  means,  as 
in  the  former  case,  simply  the  one,  true  and  "  holy  Catholic 
Church,"  that  one  spiritual  family  of  the  saved,  whose  only 
Head  is  Christ,  and  in  whose  very  hearts  Christ  dwelleth.  Or, 
if  any  should  deem  such  comment  needful  on  the  metaphor 
before  us,  we  have  it  at  the  close  of  this  verj^  passage,  in  the 
words  of  Inspiration  itself,  where  this  very  "  Family  in  heaven 
and  earth"  is  called  neither  more,  nor  less,  than  "  the  Church," 
that  "  Church  in  which  God  is  glorified  by  Christ  Jesus, 
throughout  all  ages ;"  that  is,  from  the  first  sinner  saved  through 
faith  in  "  the  blood  of  sprinkling,"  and  onward  thence,  even 
to  "  world  Avithout  end," 

3.  In  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Revelation,  we  have  another 
of  these  metaphors  for  the  one  true  Church,  in  the  word 
"Bride."  "Come  hither,"  says  the  angel  of  the  vision,  "and  I 
will  show  thee  The  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife."  And  of  whom 
does  this  spiritual  Bride  of  Christ  consist  1  Look  at  the  end 
of  the  chapter  where  the  figure  has  been  changed  to  that  of  a 
city,  and  you  will  see.  "  The  nations  of  them  which  are  saved 
shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it ;  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  do 
bring  their  glory  and  honor  into  it."  "  And  there  shall,  in  no 
wise,  enter  into  it  any  thing  that  defileth,  neither  that  Avorketh 
abomination,  or  a  lie ;  but  they  which  are  written  in  the 
Lamb's  Book  of  Life."    What  can  be  clearer  than  these  words  1 

It  is  true,  that  this  vision  is  generally,  though  not  b}'-  all, 
supposed  to  represent  the  state  of  the  Church  in  heaven ;  its 
finally  finished  perfection;  inasmuch  as  "the  Bride,"  or 
"  Great  City,  the  holy  Jerusalem,"  was  shewn  "  descending 
out  of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory  of  God,"  Let  it  be 
supposed,  then,  just  for  the  sake  of  the  supposition,  that  the 
object  of  the  vision  was  to  exhibit  the  Church  in  its  heavenl}^ 
state.  This  would  not  destroy  the  force  of  the  metaphor  in 
its  application  to  the  present  subject.  For  the  Church 
becomes  "The  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,"  on  earth  ;  and  it  is 
only  because  she  becomes  such  on  earth,  that  she  will  finally 
constitute  His  Bride  in  Heaven.  On  earth  the  covenanting 
and  espousals  must  take  place  between  Christ  and  each 
individual:  or  in  Heaven  will  never  be  celebrated  the  marriage 


METAPHORS.      THE    CHURCH   A    BRIDE;    A   BODY.  39 

between  Him  and  the  whole  body  of  the  saved.  Hence,  when 
the  Apostle  says  of  the  holy  marriage  union  between  husband 
and  wife,  "  This  is  a  great  mystery  ;"  he  immediately  adds ;  "  I 
speak  of  Christ  and  the  Church."  That  is,  the  holy  ordinance 
of  human  marriage  is  a  mystic  symbol  of  the  divine  union  now 
existing  between  Christ  and  the  Church.  This  union  has 
existed  from  the  beginning,  and  the  Church  has  been  and  will 
be  "  the  B,ride  the  Lamb's  wife"  through  all  time,  as  well  as 
through  all  eternity. 

That  this  union  exists  on  earth,  as  well  as  in  heaven,  is 
evident  from  the  last  clause  of  the  chapter  in  Revelation,  from 
which  I  have  quoted ;  where  it  is  said,  none  "  shall  enter  into 
it,"  none  shall  constitute  this  Bride,  "but  they  which  are 
written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life."  When  are  they  written 
in  that  Book  1  I  answer;  here,  on  earth  and  in  time  ;  or,  no 
where  and  never.  When  the  Seventy  rejoiced  that  "  the  devils 
were  subject  unto  them  through  Christ's  name  ;"  he  said  ''In 
this  rejoice  not ;"  "  but  rather  rejoice  because  your  names  are 
written  in  heaven."  "  Are  written  ;"  not  "  shall  be  written." 
Had  they  not  been  so  written  on  earth,  their  names  would 
never  have  stood  in  heaven,  on  the  eternal  register  of  life. 
And  this  is  as  true  of  every  Christian,  as  it  was  of  the  Seventy. 

Even,  then,  on  the  supposition  that  the  metaphoric  Bride 
in  this  passage,  means  the  Church  in  its  finally  perfected  state, 
it  shews  that  they  only  belong  to  it,  in  this  its  true  sense,  who, 
while  on  earth,  have  their  names  written  in  heaven.  Still 
more  definitive  is  the  passage  on  its  true  construction,  that  the 
Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,  is  a  figure  of  the  true  Church  in  this 
world,  as  well  as  in  the  world  to  come.  In  this  light,  the 
passage  settles  the  question,  and  shows  that  the  true  Bride,  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  its  highest  sense,  is  composed  exclusively 
of  "the  saved,"  of  those,  who,  on  earth,  have  their  "names 
written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life."  His  Book  of  Life.  No 
spiritually  dead  soul  is  ever  betrothed  to  the  divinely  livino- 
Savior. 

4.  In  various  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  we  have  still 
another  of  these  metaphors  for  the  Church,  in  the  word  "  Body." 
"As  we   have  many  members  in  one  Body,"  "so  we,  being 


40  THE    CHUKCH    UNIVERSAL. 

many,  are  one  Body  in  Christ."*  "  That  he  might  reconcile 
both  unto  God  in  one  Body  by  the  cross."t  Various  gifts  of 
ministry,  we  are  told,  were  imparted  to  this  Body,  for  "  the 
perfectinff  of  the  saints;"  "for  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ;  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ."  "  That, 
speaking  the  truth  in  love,  we  may  grov/  up  into  Him,  in  all 
things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ,  from  whom  the  whole 
Body,  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that  which  every 
joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working  in  the 
measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  Body  unto  the 
edifying  of  itself  in  love. "J 

All  this  is  exceedingly  strong  language.  Christians  are  here 
called  "  one  Body  in  Christ."  "  In  this  Body"  they  are 
"  reconciled  to  God,  by  the  cross."  They  are  *'  saints,"  the 
edified  "Body  of  Christ,"  growing  unto  a  divine  "unity;" 
"  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fulness  of  Christ."  They  "  grow  up  into  Him  in  all  things"  as 
their  "  Head."  "  From  Him  the  whole  Body,"  every  part 
and  member,  literally  the  whole  Body  "  is  fitly  joined  and 
compacted  together."  In  this  divinely  vital  fitting,  joining 
and  compacting  together,  "  every  joint  supplieth "  its  due 
proportion.  In  this  supply,  there  is  an  "  effectual  working," 
or  divine  energy.  And,  through  this  effectual  working,  there 
"  is  made  a  proportional,  or  symmetrical  increase  of  the  Body, 
in  every  single  part."  This  last  expression  is  the  true  force 
of  the  language  in  its  original.  So  surely,  then,  as  the 
metaphoric  Body,  here  described,  means  the  Church  of  Christ, 
every  member  of  this  Church,  every  limb,  joint,  ligament,  and 
function,  without  the  least  exception,  grows  into  and  from 
Christ,  by  an  inward  divine  energy,  and  is  a  spiritually 
vitalized  part  of  that  fitly  joined  and  compacted  Body,  which 
carries  the  life  of  Christ  in  every  possible  portion,  "  from  the 
crown  of  the  head  to  the  soles  of  the  feet."  Now,  what  sort 
of  Church  is  this  1     Just  that,  which  has  been,  over  and  over 

*  Rom.  xii ;  4,  5,  t  Eph.  ii ;  16.  t  Eph.  iv  ;  12-16. 


METAPHORS.      THE    CHURCH   A    BODY  J    A  TEMPLE.  41 

again,  described  :  the  great  company  of  "  the  saved  ;"  whose 
names  are  written  here  on  earth,  and  by  the  pen  of  the  living 
Spirit,  "  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life."  This  is  the  true  Church ; 
and  those  only  who  belong  to  this,  belong  to  the  true  Body  of 
Christ. 

I  know  it  is  said,  that  the  language  which  describes  this 
Body,  is  addressed  to  the  promiscuous  mass  of  Christians  in 
Ephesus  and  Rome,  among  whom,  even  then,  there  were 
probably  some  hypocrites  and  apostates ;  and  that,  therefore, 
the  Church,  so  described,  is  not  a  pure  but  a  mixed  Body.  To 
this  I  reply,  that,  though  there  may  have  been,  at  Ephesus 
and  Rome,  hypocrites  and  apostates,  who  called  themselves 
Christians,  yet  they  were  not  Christians,  and  did  not  belong  to 
the  Body  described.  They  were,  through  human  infirmity, 
mixed  up  among  Christians,  but  they  were  not  Christians  ;  and 
therefore  the  Church,  here  addressed,  was,  in  truth,  made  up 
of  those  only,  whom  the  language  employed  truly  describes. 
In  this  way  alone  are  we  able  to  escape  the  absurd  alternative  ; 
either  that  hypocrites  and  apostates  are  saved,  or  that  there 
could  not  have  been  a  single  hypocrite  or  apostate  either  at 
Ephesus  or  at  Rome.  For,  certain  it  is,  that  the  language 
•which  we  have  quoted,  describes  a  Body,  every  possible  limb, 
or  member  of  which,  carries  in  it  life  from  Christ,  even  the  life 
which  is  eternal ;  a  Body,  in  which  the  divine  energy,  or 
in-working,  "makes  a  proportional  or  symmetrical  increase 
of  every  single  part."  But,  upon  this  point,  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  again  j  for  the  present,  therefore,  it  is 
dismissed. 

5,  I  shall  notice  but  one  further  metaphor  for  the  Church: 
and  that  we  find  in  the  use  of  the  word  "  Temple."  Thus,  in 
Ephesians  ii  5  21,  speaking  of  "  the  household  of  God,"  the 
Apostle  says,  "  All  the  building  fitly  framed  together,  groweth 
unto  an  holy  Temple  in  the  Lord."  He  is  speaking  here  of 
precisely  the  same  company  of  persons,  whom,  in  some  of  the 
passages,  already  examined,  he  calls  a  "  family,"  and  a  "body." 
In  other  places,  also,  the  metaphor  of  a  "  Temple"  occurs. 
Thus,  in  II  Cor.,  sixth  Chapter,  Christians  are  called  "the 
Temple  of  the  living  God  ;"  while,  in  I  Cor,,  third  Chapter, 


42  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

the  Apostle  inquires  :  "  Know  ye  not  that  ye  are  the  Temple 
of  God,  and  that  the  spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  "?" 

That  the  Body,  here  called  a  Temple,  is  identical  with  the 
one,  true  Church  of  Christ,  is  manifest  from  the  scope  of  the 
chapter,  Eph.  ii.,  from  which  the  principal  passage  is  taken. 
The  Apostle  there  tells  us,  that  in  Christ,  is  "  made,  of  twain, 
one  new  man."  Now,  what  were  "  the  twain"  thus  made 
"  one"  in  Christ  1  Not  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  and  the 
whole  Gentile  world  ;  but  "  the  saints"  in  the  Jewish  Church, 
before  and  at  the  Advent  of  Christ ;  and  "  the  saints"  from 
Gentile  races,  gathered  into  the  Church  after  that  Advent.  In 
other  words  ;  the  one,  true  and  whole  Church  of  Christ,  in  all 
ages  5  that  "new  man,"  which  is  made  "one"  in  Christ;  and 
whose  members  are  gathered  from  the  "  two"  great  branches  of 
the  human  family.  If  this  do  not  mean  the  Church,  it  will 
be  difficult,  nay  impossible,  to  find  a  description  in  which  it  is 
included. 

The  perfect  soundness  of  this  interpretation  is  evinced  by 
what  immediately  precedes  this  chapter.  Speaking  of  the 
same  company  of  "  saints,"  which  he  afterwards  calls  a 
Temple,  the  Apostle  says  that  Christ  is  "  Head  over  all  things 
to  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that 
fiUeth  all  in  all."*  This  is  deiinitive  of  the  question.  The 
Temple,  described  in  the  main  passage  before  us,  is  the  Church  ; 
that  Body,  whose  Head  is  Christ,  and  whose  members  Christ 
filleth,  "all  in  all." 

But,  if  this  Temple  be  the  Church,  it  behoves  us  to  look 
well  to  the  question,  of  what  materials  is  it  composed  \ 
Looking,  then,  at  the  same  chapter,  we  find  it  composed  of 
"  saints"  only  ;  of  those,  who,  in  their  individual  characters, 
are  united  with  Christ  by  a  true  faith,  and  saved.  They  are 
particularly  addressed  as  having  been  "quickened  from  a  death 
in  trespasses  and  sins,"  "  raised  up,  and  made  to  sit  together 
in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus  3"  "  saved  by  grace  through 
faith  ;"  "  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ ;"  and  blessed  with 
"  access  by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father."    Both  the  Jewish  and 

*  Ephesians  ij  22,  23. 


METAPHORS.   THE  CHURCH  A  TKMPLE.         43 

the  Gentile  saints,  who  constitute  this  "  one  new  man"  in 
Christ,  are  represented  as  "  reconciled  to  God  in  one  Body  by 
the  cross  j"  terms  which  cannot  be  appliable  to  mere  saints  by 
courtesy.  It  seems  the  grossest  violence  to  language  to  say 
that  unconverted  Jews,  and  unconverted  Gentiles  are 
"reconciled  to  God  by  the  cross,"  and  so  made  "  one  Body 
in  Christ."  These  terms  can  comprehend  none  but  true 
believers,  Avho  are  one  in  the  true  Savior.  Hence,  in  the 
passage  before  us,  the  converted  Ephesians  are  called  "  no  more 
strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints  ;" 
saints  with  saints,  "  and  of  the  household  of  God;"  "  built  on 
the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  Chief  Corner  Stone."  "  In  Him  all  the 
building,"  all,  every  stone  and  timber,  from  foundation  to 
pinnacle,  all  is  "  fitly  framed  together ;"  and,  thus  framed, 
all  "groweth,"  every  part  and  particle,  all  groweth  "  unto  an 
holy  Temple  in  the  Lord ;"  a  Temple  all  "  holy,"  and  all  "  in 
the  Lord;"  all  "builded  together  for  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit;"  and,  through  that  Spirit,  filled  by  its 
occupant  in  every  part. 

Such  is  the  simple  import  of  this  passage,  and  of  the  Chapter 
in  which  it  stands.  It  certainly  describes  the  Church  ;  for,  in 
the  immediate  context,  the  object  described  is  called  the 
Church  ;  and  it  as  certainly  describes  a  Church,  every  part  of 
which  is  united  to  Christ  by  faith,  in  a  vital  and  holy  union; 
and,  thus  united,  is  saved  by  Him  from  sin  and  death.  In 
making  up  this  Temple,  no  account  is  taken  of  any  other 
materials  ;  no  other  materials  are  to  be  found  in  any  part  of 
the  sacred  edifice.  It  is  built  for  God  ;  and,  "through  the 
Spirit,"  God  dwells  in  it ;  vitalizing,  sanctifying,  and  finally 
glorifying  every  possible  part.  It  is  that  Church  which  Christ 
fiUeth,  '-all  in  all." 

This  view  is  sustained  by  the  true  scriptural  meaning  of  the 
word.  Temple.  In  the  sense  of  the  Bible,  what  constitutes  a 
Temple  %  Not  a  mere  pile  of  hewn  stone  and  cedar,  overlaid 
with  gold  and  silver.  We,  indeed,  call  such  a  structure  a 
Temple  ;  and,  by  this  customary  mode  of  speech,  are  too 
easily  led  to  suppose  that,  in  itself,  it  is  a  Temple.     This, 


44  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

however,  is  not  true.  Why  was  that  wonderful  edifice  at 
Jerusalem  a  true  Temple  1  Not  because  of  its  materiality  or 
visibility,  costliness  or  splendor ;  but  because  of  God's 
indwelling.  This  indwelling  makes  any  place,  yea,  any  thing 
a  Temple.  Hence,  when  Jacob,  on  his  way  to  Haran,  was 
overtaken  by  the  night,  and  made  the  stones  of  Luz  his  pillow, 
and  the  firmament  of  heaven  his  covering  ;  and  when,  upon 
waking,  he  found  that  God  had  been  specially  with  him,  in 
communion  and  covenant,  he  said,  "  Surely,  Jehovah  is  in  this 
place,  and  I  knew  it  not."  "  How  dreadful  is  this  place  ! 
This  is  none  other  but  the  House  of  God  ;  and  this  is  the  gate 
of  heaven."  He  had  been  in  a  Temple,  because  he  had  been 
with  God.  It  was  an  august  Temple  ;  and  it  shews  us  what, 
in  the  scriptural  sense,  the  true,  essential  constituents  of  a 
Temple  are. 

For  a  like  reason,  the  Body  of  Christ  is  a  true  Temple. 
When  his  hearers  understood  him  to  spieak  of  destroying  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  building  it  in  three  days,  we  are 
told,  "He  spake  of  the  Temple  of  His  Body."  It  was  a 
mysterious  Temple ;  for  in  "  Him  was  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh."  "In  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily." 

This  shews  why  even  the  Body  of  the  individual  Christian 
is  a  true  Temple.  "  Know  ye  not  that  your  Body  is  the 
Temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  in  you  V*  Through  His 
indwelling,  the  body  of  each  and  every  Christian  believer  is, 
in  a  true,  though  subordinate  sense,  like  that  of  his  Lord,  a 
Temple  for  the  habitation  of  God  ! 

This  takes  us  right  into  the  meaning  of  the  word,  as  it  stands 
in  the  passage  on  which  I  am  commenting.  The  company,  or 
collection  of  individuals  there  described,  are  a  Temple,  because 
in  each  and  every  one  "  Christ  dwelleth  by  faith."  His 
dwelling  in  each  separately,  and  thus  in  all  collectively,  makes 
them,  collectively,  what  each  is  individually,  a  Temple,  a 
wondrous  Temple!  "The  Temple  of  the  living  God;"  of 
God  living  in  them,  "  dwelling  in  them,  and  walking  in  them  ;" 

*I  Cor.  vi;  19. 


PRESENT    HOLINESS  ;    IMPERFECT,    BUT   REAL.  45 

He,  "  their  God,"  and  they  "  His  people  ;"  He,  their  "  Father," 
and  they.  His  "  sons  and  daughters."  It  is  only  so  far  as  they 
answer  these  terms,  that  they  can  be  built  into  it,  and  help  to 
constitute  this  glorious  Temple  of  saints! 

This  Temple,  in  every  part  inhabited,  this  Church,  in  every 
member  vitalized,  by  God,  is  identical  with  that  "  spiritual 
house,"  which  St.  Peter  describes  as  built  of  "  living  stones" 
on  the  foundation  of  Christ,  the  "  living  stone."  This  edifice 
he  immediately  calls  "  a  peculiar  people,"  designed  "  to  shew 
forth  the  praises  of  Him,  who  hath  called  them  out  of  darkness 
into  His  marvellous  light  j  which,  in  time  past,  were  not  a 
people  ;  but  are  now  the  people  of  Godj  Avhich  had  not 
obtained  mercy ;  but  now  have  obtained  mercy."*  It  is 
eminently  "  a  spiritual  house,"  all  alive  with  one  life,  from 
foundation  to  top-stone  ;  the  life  of  Christ  living  in  every  one 
of  His  members. 

I  have  thus  shewn  that  the  idea  of  the  Church,  advanced  in 
my  first  discourse,  is  distinctly  found  in  several  passages,  which 
designedly  describe  the  Church,  under  the  various  metaphors 
of  a  Fold,  a  Family,  a  Bride,  a  Body,  and  a  Temple.  One 
general  observation,  touching  all  these  descriptions  should  be 
made. 

A  careful  study  of  all  the  contexts  will  show  that  those 
who  belong  to  the  company,  thus  variously  described,  are 
continually  exhorted  to  holiness  and  all  fidelity,  and  as 
continually  warned  against  sin  and  all  unfaithfulness.  A  little 
reflection,  however,  will  satisfy  us  that  this  makes  nothing 
against  the  idea  of  the  Church  which  I  am  illustrating.  It 
argues  not  that  the  Church,  thus  exhorted  and  warned,  is 
composed,  in  part,  of  impenitent  men,  men  without  faith,  and 
with  none  of  the  elements  of  holiness.  It  but  proves,  what 
all  admit,  that  true  Christians  then,  like  true  Christians  now, 
were  not,  of  necessity,  perfect  in  holiness  at  the  first  moment 
of  their  union  with  Christ ;  that  they  were  too  often  needlessly 
imperfect ;  and  that  therefore  they  were  proper  subjects  for 
the  discipline  of  such  grave  instructions  as  they  received. 

•  I  Peter  ii ;  5,  9,  10. 


46  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

The  "  Spiritual  House,"  into  which  they  were  builded,  was,  in 
every  part,  a  live  Temple.  Spiritual  life  went  out  of  the 
live  rock,  into  every  single  stone  built  thereon  ;  so  that,  what 
was  lacking  in  each,  was,  not  the  living  principle,  but  some  of 
its  fuller  and  higher  actings ;  not  the  true  nature  of  the  holy 
materials,  but  some  of  their  more  finished  and  heavenly 
adornings. 

The  point  immediately  before  us,  then,  is  sufficiently  clear. 
Various  passages  in  the  Inspired  Word  describe  the  Church 
under  the  precise  idea  of  it,  which  I  have  advanced  ;  an  idea, 
which,  in  settling  the  essential  marks  of  the  one  holy  Catholic 
Church,  knows  nothing  of  any  outward  unity  in  submission  to 
one  temporal,  human  Head  ;  an  idea,  Avhich,  in  developing 
what  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  the  Church,  is  equally 
unacquainted  with  any  indispensably  necessary  external  unity 
in  subordination  to  one  Episcopacy  with  sacraments  episcopally 
administered ;  an  idea,  in  short,  which,  in  unfolding  the 
essential  Being  of  the  Church,  holds  forth  Christ  and  life  from 
Him  by  faith  in  the  individual  soul,  as  the  very  basis  and 
substratum,  yea,  the  very  material  and  superstructure  of  that 
Church.  This  idea  of  Christ's  holy  Catholic  Church,  the  Bible 
certainly  gives ;  and,  I  apprehend,  it  is  only  because  men  have 
been  so  long  familiar  with  a'different,  so  long  wedded,  in  truth, 
to  a  conflicting  notion,  that  this  seems,  to  any  mind,  strange, 
or,  otherwise  than  based  on  the  highest  reason. 

I  say  not  that  the  Bible  never  uses  the  word,  Church,  in  a 
looser  sense  ;  or  that  it  never  speaks  of  the  Church  as  a  being 
of  external  organization  ;  or  that  it  never  describes  a  ministry 
and  sacraments  as  gracious  endowments  of  the  Church,  But, 
reserving  these  points  for  future  examination,  when  I  hope  to 
shew  them  in  a  consistent  light,  what  I  say,  for  the  present,  is, 
that  the  first,  highest,  truest  idea,  which  the  Bible  gives  of  the 
Church,  is  that,  in  which  Christ,  and  individual  union  with 
Him  by  a  true  faith,  with  the  result  of  growing  spiritual  life, 
constitute  the  very  soul  and  body  of  the  divine  confederacy. 
The  Church,  in  this  idea  of  it,  is  a  thing,  not  of  changeful  and 
perishable  visibilities,  but  of  permanent  and  imperishable 
spiritualities.     It  is  essentially  marked   by  just  such  inward 


SUMMARY.  47 

relations  and  affections,  as  are  at  once  suggested  to  thought  by 
the  metaphors,  under  which  we  have  seen  it  figured.  The 
Fold,  the  Family,  the  Bride,  the  Body,  the  Temple  ;  what 
things  of  life  are  these  ;  and  how  full  is  each  of  divine  affinities  ! 
What  a  Fold  is  that,  of  which  Christ  is  Shepherd  ;  what  a 
Family,  in  which  Christ  is  Father  ;  what  a  Bride,  to  which 
Christ  is  Husband  ;  what  a  Body,  to^which  Christ  is  Head  ;  and 
what  a  Temple,  of  which  Christ  is  both  Foundation-Stone  and 
Cement !  In  the  eye  of  the  Bible,  who  is  fit  to  be  regarded 
in  the  light  of  a  participant  in  these  holy  relationships  1  He 
is  a  sheep  of  Christ's  Fold,  who  hears  His  voice  and  follows 
Him.  He  is  one  of  Christ's  Family,  who  is  born  unto  Him  by 
the  Spirit  through  the  Truth.  He  is  part  of  Christ's  Bride, 
who  is  espoused  to  Him  in  faith  and  holy  love.  He  is  a 
member  of  Christ's  Body,  who  draws  spiritual  life,  and  feels  a 
living  control,  from  Him  as  Head.  And  he  is  in  Christ's 
Temple,  who  is  built  on  Him  as  the  only  Foundation,  and 
grows,  as  by  a  sacred  cement,  to  that,  on  which  he  is  builded. 
He,  who  enters  into  these  heavenly  affinities,  and  is  held  by 
them,  and  he  only,  comes  within  the  scope  and  embrace  of 
such  passages  as  have  been  examined  ;  and  all  who  do  thus 
enter,  and  are  thus  held  in  affinity  with  Christ,  do  also  come 
within  the  scope  and  embrace  of  those  passages ;  by  whatever 
outward  name  they  may  be  known,  in  whatever  varying  clime 
they  may  be  found,  and  under  whatever  outward  disadvantages 
they  may  labor.  Nothing  but  these  affinities  can  make  up  the 
Body  of  the  true  and  "holy  Catholic  Church  ;"  and  nothing 
can  cut  off  from  this  Body,  where  these  affinities  really  exist. 
In  the  visible  Church,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  outward 
institutions  of  ministry  and  sacraments  have  their  true  place, 
and  are  invested  with  their  full  importance.  They  bind  us,  as 
things  of  order  and  as  means  of  grace  ;  but  they  bind  not  God 
as  essentials  to  Christian  life  and  to  incorporation  into  Christ. 
His  one  spiritual  and  holy  Church  is  the  result  of  His  working, 
by  whatever  means  j  and  when,  by  His  working,  it  is  gathered 
into  Christ,  nothing  can  cut  off  from  it,  but  what,  at  the  same 
time,  separates  from  Christ  himself. 

As  yet,  however,  I  have  examined  but  one  of  the  two  sets 


48  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

of  passao-es,  which  I  have  mentioned  as  sustaining  this  idea  of 
the  Church;  those  describing  it  under  certain  metaphors.  I 
have  still  to  examine  those,  which  present  it  under  its  own 
proper  name,  the  Church. 

In  the  meantime,  while  I  am  developing  the  idea  before  us, 
I  have  to  ask  two  things  ;  that  my  readers  will  not  conclude 
hastily  against  this  view  ;  and  that  they  will  not,  beforehand, 
write  me  down  as  no  Churchman,  because  I  have  undertaken 
to  develope  the  idea  which  this  view  involves.  If  they  wait 
for  what  I  have  yet  to  say,  I  trust  they  will  see  that  this  view 
is  really  sustained  by  our  own  standards,  as  well  as  by  the 
Bible;  while,  when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  Church  as  an 
outward  organization,  I  hope  they  will  be  able  to  perceive, 
still  more  clearly,  how  the  view,  thus  sustained,  is  in  perfect 
keeping  with  all  good  fidelity  and  affection  to  the  Zion  of  our 
own  tried  loyalty  and  love. 

May  God  bless  what  has  thus  far  been  said,  to  the  filling  of 
all  our  hearts  with  life  from  Christ. 


DISCOURSE  III. 


"  Even  as  Christ  loved  the  Church  and  gave  Himself  for  it,  that  He  might 
sanctif}-  and  cleanse  it  with  ihe  washing  of  water  by  the  Word,  that  He  might 
present  il  to  Himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing;  but  that  it  should  he  holy  and  without  blemish." — Ephesians  v;  25-27. 


The  Church,  in  its  comprehension,  has  already  occupied 
us  through  two  discourses.  In  the  first,  after  stating  that 
definition  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  which  restricts  it 
to  the  Romish  Communion,  and  that  which  extends  it  to  all, 
who  enjoy  an  Episcopal  ministry  and  sacraments,  I  proceeded 
to  seek  a  third  idea  of  this  Holy  Catholic  Church,  or  of  the 
Church  in  its  true  comprehension  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  I  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  it  embraces  all,  of  whatever  name,  who 
have  an  individual  union  with  Christ  by  a  true  faith  ;  that 
whole  company  of  the  saved,  who,  through  this  faith  in  Christ, 
are  made  holy,  and  become  inheritors  of  eternal  life.  In  the 
second  discourse,  I  proposed  to  shew  that  this  idea  of  the 
Church  is  sustained  by  the  Bible  ;  and  to  this  end  proceeded 
to  examine  two  separate  sets  of  passages  j  the  one  presenting 
the  Church  under  certain  metaphors  ;  the  other  presenting  it 
under  its  own  proper  name.  Of  these  two  sets  of  passages,  the 
former  only  has  thus  far  been  examined.  I  enter  now  on  an 
examination  of  the  latter. 

II.  Passages  which  present  the  Church  under  its  own  proper 
name. 

It  is  important  to  make  this  examination,  because,  however 
clearly  the  Church,  as  described  by  metaphors,  was  found  to 
correspond  with  the  idea  now  before  us,  it  is  still  contended, 
that  in  all  cases  where  the  word,  Church,  is  used,  it  designates 
an  outward  and  mixed  body,  composed,  in  part,  of  true  believ- 
4. 


50  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

ers,  and,  in  part,  of  hypocrites,  self-deceivers  and  apostates  ; 
or,  that,  in  the  Bible,  the  word,  Church,  always  designates  a 
visible  and  organized  society,  with  its  officers,  sacraments,  and 
mixed  body  of  members.  Now,  if  this  be  true,  it  will 
apparently  invalidate  the  interpretation,  already  put  on  the 
metaphors,  by  which  the  Church  is  described.  But,  if  it  be 
not  true,  if  there  be  passages  in  which  the  word  Church  carries 
the  same  sense  with  the  interpreted  metaphors,  then  will  the 
interpretation  put  upon  those  metaphors  be  made  certain,  and 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  which  I  maintain,  be  established. 
What,  then,  is  the  truth  on  this  point  1 

I  begin  my  reply  by  admitting,  as  I  have  already  done, 
that  in  the  Bible,  the  word,  Cliurch,  is  often  used  to  designate 
a  visible,  and  even  an  organized  society  ;  the  reason  why,  I 
will  shew  in  its  proper  place  :  for  the  present,  the  fact  of  such 
use  is  freely  admitted.  Yet  I  maintain  that  this  is  not  the 
true  primitive  sense  of  the  word ;  and  that  there  are  various 
passages  which  fully  sustain  the  idea  of  the  Church,  as  already 
deduced  from  an  examination  of  metaphoric  terms,  and  as 
indicated  by  this  true  primitive  sense  of  the  word  itself. 

In  ascertaining  this  true  sense,  it  will  be  important  to 
remember,  that  the  word,  Ecclesia,  generally  translated  Church, 
means  simply  an  assembly;  an  aggregate  of  individuals;  and 
has  so  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  organization,  rules  and 
constitution  of  government,  that  it  may  be  applied  to  a 
tumultuous  gathering,  a  very  mob  ;  and  that,  to  designate  a 
lawful,  or  organized  body,  it  at  first  needed  an  adjective  joined 
with  it  to  express  the  quality  of  lawfulness,  or  organization. 
In  itself,  it  means  simply  assembly,  an  aggregate  of  individuals. 
Thus  we  see  in  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  when  St. 
Paul  was  preaching  at  Ephesus,  and  when  the  Ephesians, 
thinking  the  honor  of  their  goddess  Diana  in  peril,  and  being 
excited  to  rage  by  the  crafty  silversmith,  Demetrius,  "  rushed," 
rabble-like,  "into  the  theatre,"  and  for  "two  hours"  shouted, 
"Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians;"  though  "the  whole  city 
was  filled  with  confusion,"  and  "  the  more  part  knew  not 
wherefore  they  were  come  together,"  save  to  threaten  violence 
to  the  Christians,  yet  this  very  mob,  the  most  disorderly  of  its 
kind,  was  called  an  Ecclesia.    "  The  Ecclesia,"  says  the  sacred 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.       WORD    ECCLESLA.  51 

writer,  "was  confused  ;  and  the  more  part  knew  not  wherefore 
they  were  come  together."  And,  finally,  when  "the  Town 
Clerk"  had  succeeded  in  "  appeasing  the  people,"  he  is  said  to 
have  "  dismissed  the  Ecclesia  :  "  telling  them,  at  the  same 
time,  that  if  they  had  any  really  actionable  matter  against  the 
Christians,  it  "should  be  determined  in  a  lawful  assembly;" 
(sv  TV]  swo^aw  ExxXi/tfia.) 

The  word  itself,  therefore,  though  generally  translated 
Church,  yet  means  simply  an  assembly,  without  any  reference 
to  visible  organization  and  government:  and  when  used  to 
designate  an  organized  body,  it  originally  needed  an  adjective 
to  express  the  quality  of  organization.  It  was  probably  by 
use,  that,  as  applied  to  Christians,  the  adjective  was  dropped, 
and  the  word  Ecclesia  alone  came  to  designate  a  visibly 
organized  body.  Primarily,  as  applied  to  the  Disciples,  it 
meant  simply  an  assembly  of  Christians,  without  reference  to 
any  visible  bond  of  unity  and  government ;  just  the  aggregate 
of  true  believers  in  Christ,  spirituall}'-  united  to,  and  in  Him.* 

•  In  Acts  vii ;  3S,  "  Ecclesia  "  is  applied  to  the  Hebrews  in  the  wilderness  : 
and  in  I\Iatt.  xviii ;  17,  to  those  who  were  to  hear  complaints  against  oflendcrs. 

But,  in  Acts  vii ;  3S,  it  seems  to  be  used  of  the  aggregate  of  individuals,  under 
the  special  guidance  of  God,  and  constituting  the  politico-thocratic  state  of  the 
Hebrew  people  ;  and  not  of  a  Church,  in  our  ecclesiastical  sense  of  the  term, 
under  full  visible  organization,  and  delegated  human  government.  The  Ecclesia 
of  sainis,  or  company  of  holy  believers,  was  then,  as  now,  in  existence.  But  at 
that  time,  the  word  Ecclesia  was  applied  to  the  people  li\ing  under  the  Hebrew 
polity,  a  pure  theocracy,  or  state  under  the  immediate  government  of  God.  The 
Church,  in  our  ordinary  sense,  as  visible  and  separate,  or  distingisuhable  from 
the  State,  did  not  exist.  Religious  worship,  with  priest  and  sacrifices,  was 
maintained  ;  but  it  was  an  appendage  of  the  theocratic  state,  rather  than  of  a 
separately  existing  Church.  The  whole  people  were  called  "  the  congregation" — 
the  "  ecclesia" — the  aggregate  of  the  individuals  of  the  state.  If  it  be  contended 
that  the  Church,  as  a  peculiar  visible  organization,  under  appointed  officers, 
was  then  in  existence  and  action,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  that  Church  was 
all  in  all;  that  the  state,  as  such,  did  not  exist;  and  that  a  Hebrew  state, 
silently  absorbing  this  visible  Church  into  itself,  subsequenily  took  its  origin  in 
the  appointment  of  the  iirst  king.  I  confess  that,  to  my  miml,  the  Hebrew 
polity  in  the  wilderness,  as  well  as  in  Canaan,  appears  more  like  a  religious 
state,  a  social  theocracy,  carrying  among  its  individuals  the  elements  of  the 
spiritual  Church,  than  like  a  visible  Church,  existing  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
slate.  Acts  vii ;  38,  would  have  been  properly  rendered — "  He  that  was  in  the 
congregation,"  or  "  assembly,"  in  the  wilderness. 

In  Malt. xviii;  17,  it  is  argued,  an  organized  visible  Church  must  be  intended, 


52  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

As  Christians  multiplied,  however,  they  gradually  became  a 
more  and  more  perfectly  organized  body  ;  and  then  the  word 
which  had  described  them  in  their  unorganized  state,  seems  to 
have  been  adopted  as  their  name  in  an  organized  capacity  ; 
and  the  Ecclesia  became  a  thing  of  rules  and  government,  as 
well  as  of  common  union  in  Christ.  But,  originally,  this 
common  union  of  an  assembly,  or  aggregate  of  individuals, 
with  Christ  was  evidently,  when  used  in  a  religious  sense,  its 
true  idea.  Let  us  now  look  at  the  passages,  in  which  the  word 
seems  used  in  this  sense. 

1.  I  cite,  first,  Matt,  xvi ;  18.  "  Upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  MY  Church  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it." 

This,  the  reader  is  aware,  is  the  very  passage,  on  which  Rome 
relies  for  establishing  her  exclusive  claim  as  the  one  visible 
and  Holy  Catholic  Church ;  inasmuch  as,  in  her  view,  it 
upholds  the  claim  of  her  Bishop  to  universal  supremacy,  as 
successor  to  St.  Peter,  and  sole  vicar  of  Christ  on  earth.  To 
support  this  claim,  she  interprets  the  whole  passage  thus: 
"Thou  art  Peter,"  a  rock;  "and,  on  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  Church  ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it  :"* 
thus  making  Peter  virtually  the  foundation  of  the  Church  ; 
constituting  for  the  Church  one  head  on  earth  ;  and  making 
union  with  that  head  necessary. 

Now,  even  if  this  interpretation  were,  in  principle,  correct, 
it  would  yield   no   support   to  the   claims  of  Rome  and  her 

with  power  to  constitute  itself  a  court,  for  the  trial  and  punishment  of  otTenders. 
But  this  is  the  seed  of  a  monstrous  evil.  The  idea  of  a  Christian  Church,  with 
authority  to  try  ofl'ences.  and  to  punish  hy  the  infliction  of  positive  peually,  is 
anti-christian,  and  has  done  incalculable  mischief.  Christ's  words  imply  no 
more  than  this  :  "  If  thy  brother  ofl'eiid  thee,  and  will  not  listen  to  the  private 
advice  of  two  or  three  friends,  nor  to  that  of  an  "assembly"  of  the  brethren, 
then  withdraw  from  his  company,  and  have  no  more  to  do  with  hiui  than  with  a 
heathen  or  a  publican."  This,  I  believe,  is  aJl  the  power  of  discijiline  that 
Christ  ever  intended  should  be  exercised  by  his  disciples  :  the  power  of  simply 
separating,  or  withdrawing  themselves  from  all  fellowship  with  incorrigibly 
uiuvortliy  professors  of  his  name  and  Gospel. — (Vide,  II  Thess.  iii;  CJ — 15: 
1  Tim.  vi ;  3—5:  I  Cor.  v;  1—13.) 

Some  understand  by  Ecclesia,  in  Malt,  xviii  ;  17,  ilie  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  as  a 
legal  tribunal.  This,  of  course,  would  take  from  the  word  all  reference  to  the 
Church. 

*  See  Encyclopadia  Americana,  Vol.  x.  p.  263.    Art.  "Pope,  hy  a  Cathclic." 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.       MATT    XVI;    IS.  53 

Bishop,  unless  they  could  prove,  what  history  furnishes  no 
trustworthy  means  of  proving,  that  St.  Peter  was  the  first 
Bishop,  or  ever  a  Bishop,  of  that  Church.  But,  as  my  present 
concern  is  with  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  and  not  with 
history,  I  proceed  to  show  that  the  foregoing  interpretation  is 
not  correct,  but  evidently  groundless. 

Christ,  then,  had  just  asked  his  Disciples — "  Who  do  men 
say  that  I  ami"  And,  on  being  told  that  some  called  him 
"  John  the  Baptist,"  while  others  believed  him  to  be  "  Elias," 
and  others  still  "  Jeremias,"  or  "one  of  the  prophets;"  he 
inquired  again;  "But  who  say  ye  that  I  am '? "  To  this 
question,  addressed  to  them  all,  Simon,  ever  prompter  than  the 
rest,  replied,  "  Thou  art  the  Chkist,  the  Son  of  the  Living 
God."  Jesus  immediately  added,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-jona,  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee; 
but  my  Father  who  is  in  Heaven." 

Now  follows  that  part  of  the  passage  which  I  have  quoted  ; 
and,  in  order  to  show  more  clearly  the  entire  groundlessness 
of  the  exposition  to  which  I  have  adverted,  I  will  give  the  two 
main  words  of  what  follows  in  their  original  Greek.  "  And  I 
say  unto  thee,"  thou  man  of  heaven-taught  courage,  "thou  art 
Pei'/-05,"  a  stone  ;  "  and  upon  this  Pc;;-a,"  this  rock,  "  I  will 
build  my  Church ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it."  "No  devastations  of  death  and  the  grave  shall  ever 
extinguish  it ;  and  no  subtlety  or  malice  of  the  devil  or  of 
man  shall  ever  prevail  to  move  it  from  its  immovable  foun- 
dation." 

Upon  the  passage  thus  placed  before  us,  I  remark ;  had 
Christ  designed  to  constitute  Simon  the  foundation  and  head 
of  His  Church  on  earth.  He  would  doubtless  have  said : 
"  Thou  art  Pelros  ;  and  on  this  Petros  I  will  build  my  Church; 
and  thus  built  on  thee,  nothing  shall  ever  prevail  against  it." 
This,  however.  He  did  not  say  :  He  changed  the  main  word 
in  the  sentence  ;  and,  b}^  the  change,  intimated  that  he  was 
pointing,  not  to  Simon,  but  to  something  else,  as  the  foundation 
and  head  of  His  impregnable  Church.  AVhat  was  that  something 
else  1  To  understand  this,  bear  in  mind,  Simon,  under  divine 
leaching,  had  just  confessed — "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son 


54  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

of  the  Living  God."     This  revelation — Jesup,  the  Anointed, 
the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Living  God  ;  this,  the  most  elementary 
fact   in   Christianity,  the  very  corner-stone   of  the    Christian 
faith,  the  very  life  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church — was  the 
grand  disclosure  which  the  dialogue  had  elicited,  the  weighty 
theme  which   then  filled   all   their  minds!     How   infinitely 
improbable,  then,  is  it  that  Christ,  while   His   soul  was  thus 
laboring,  and  while  the  minds  of  his  Disciples  were  thus  filled, 
with  the  grandest  birth  of  His  own  revelation,  turned  instantly 
away  from  Himself,    the  very  starting  point  and  goal  of  His 
own  inquiries,  and  brought  forward  Simon  as  a  main  object  of 
regard ;  a  man  bold  and  inspired,  it  is  true,  yet  still  rash  and 
changeful ;  and  that  such  a  Speaker,  on  such  an  occasion, 
finished  His  solemn  announcenient  by  declaring  that  He  "would 
build  His  eternally  immovable  Church  on  the  foundation  of  a 
weak  and  unstable  creature  !     I  repeat,  nothing  can  be  more 
groundless  than  such  an  exposition  of  this  passage.     Its  true 
meaning  is:  "Thou  art  Petros,  a  stone,  a  bold  man,  speaking 
as  my  Father  hath  taught ;  and,  in  the  face  of  a  hostile  world, 
confessing  me  to  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God. 
On  this  rock,  this  Peira  which  thou  hast  confessed— that  is,  on 
MYSELF,  as    'the  Anointed,  the  Begotten  of  the  Living  God,' 
on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church ;  and  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it.     For  I  am  He  that  'hath  the  keys 
of  hell  and  of  death  ;  '*  I,  therefore,  by  its  resting  on  myself, 
will  keep  my  Church  against  the  power  of  both  !  " 

To  clear  the  truth  of  this  meaning,  look  at  subsequent 
revelations,  which  Christ  sent  by  His  great  Apostle :  "  Our 
Fathers,"  said  St.  Paul,  "  were  all  under  the  cloud,  and  all 
passed  through  the  sea  ;  and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in 
the  cloud  and  in  the  sea  j  and  did  all  eat  of  the  same  spiritual 
meat,  and  did  ail  drink  of  the  same  spiritual  drink ;  for  they 
drank  of  that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them  ;  and  that  rock, 
Peira,  was  Christ !  "  f  "  Other  Foundation  can  no  man  lay, 
than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  |  Here,  then,  is  the 
rock,  the  very  "  Pelra,''^  by  name,  of  winch  Jesus  was  speaking  ; 

*Rev.  i;18.  j  I  Cor- s;  1—4.  JlCor.  iiijil. 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.      MATT.    XVL    iS.  55 

Christ  Himself,  the  only  foundation  of  His  Church.  This, 
doubtless,  is  the  very  foundation  under  the  figure  of  which 
their  own  prophets  had  predicted  Christ :  "  Behold  I  lay  in 
Zion,  for  a  foundation,  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner- 
stone, a  sure  foundation  :  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make 
haste."  That  is ;  '  whoso  rests  by  faith  on  this  Divine  Rock 
shall  never  be  moved.  Nothing  on  earth,  or  in  hell,  shall  ever 
move  him.'  This,  imbodying  the  very  idea  of  Matt.  xvi.  18, 
was  the  language  of  their  own  Scriptures ;  with  this  the 
Disciples  were  doubtless  familiar  ;  this,  therefore,  we  may  well 
conclude,  furnished- the  key  to  the  meaning  of  their  Divine 
Master,  when  He  said,  "On  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  They 
needed  no  labored  exposition  in  words  ;  they  needed  not,  what 
some  have  conjectured  that  He  used,  even  a  silent  motion  of 
His  hand  towards  His  own  bosom,  to  guide  them  in  catching 
His  meaning,  when  He  uttered  those  living  truths,  and  pro- 
claimed Himself*  alone  the  Eternal  Foundation,  Safeguard, 
and   Keeper  of  His  own  spiritual  and  believing  Church  ! 

The  argument,  in  brief,  stands  thus  : — Isaiah,  speaking 
by  that  "spirit  of  prophecy"  which  is  "the  testimony 
of  Jesus,"  foretells  Christ  as  the  foundation  of  a  believing 
and  immovable  Church  :  Christ  Himself,  whose  inspiration 
was  in  that  prophet,  calls  the  foundation  of  His  Church, 
Petra:  and  Paul,  speaking  by  revelation  from  the  same  In- 
spirer,  declares  that  this  Petra  was  Christ.  This  is  light  from 
the  Bible.  The  Peira,  in  Matt,  xvi ;  IS,  is  not  Simon,  but 
Christ  Himself;  and  the  words  of  Jesus  to  His  Disciple  mean 
precisely  this :  "  I  call  thee  Petros,  because  thou  hast  boldly 
confessed  Me,  the  true  Petra,  '  the  Anointed  Son  of  the  living 

*  Since  writing  these  discourses,  I  have  met  with  the  following  comment  on 
this  celebrated  text;  from  the  Ireiiicum  of  Slillingfleet :  "  For,  indeed,  was  the 
Church  built  upon  St.  Peter  ?  then  he  must  be  chief  foundation  stone  ;  and  Peter 
must  build  upon  himself,  and  not  upon  Christ,  and  all  the  Apostles  upon  him  ; 
and  thus,  in  exalting  the  servant,  we  depress  the  ISIaster  ;  and  in  setting  a  new 
foundation,  we  take  away  the  only  foundation,  Jesus  Christ."  Again:  "  The 
rock  then  spoken  of  by  Christ  in  his  speech  to  Peter,  if  taken  doctrinally,  was 
St.  Peter's  confession  ;  as  many  of  the  Father's  interpret  it ;  if  taken  personally, 
it  was  none  but  Christ  himself,  who  used  a  like  speech  to  this,  when  He  said, 
•  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up-'  "    John  ii ;  19. 


56  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

God;'  and  on  tijis  Pctra  I  will  build  my  Church  ;  that  living 
Temple  of  believers  which  shall  never  be  moved." 

In  what  I  have  thus  said,  the  reader  will  perceive,  it  has 
been  my  aim  not  merely  to  expose  a  groundless  interpretation 
of  the  passage  before  us,  but  also  to  bring  to  view  Christ,  as  the 
foundation  of  the  true  Church.  Isaiah  foretells  a  foundation, 
on  which  whosoever  believeth,  builds  and  is  safe  ;  and  Christ 
proclaims  Himself  a  rock,  on  which  is  built  a  Church  not  to 
be  moved  by  all  the  assaults  of  hell.  What  sort  of  a  Church, 
then,  is  this  1  I  answer  ;  it  is  a  Church  which  Christ  builds, 
not  man.  "  On  this  rock  I  will  build  j[Iy  Church."  Christ 
is  builder  here,  and  only  Christ.  He  is  truly  a  builder.  Not 
only  does  He  constitute  the  true  foundation  ;  but  He  really 
and  ceaselessly  works  in  building  on  that  foundation.  He 
does  all  the  work  in  the  building.  By  His  Spirit  and  His 
Truth  He  lays  every  stone  that  is  used  in  the  process.  "  On 
this  Rock  /  will  build  J\Iy  Church."  Here  is  no  mistake, 
no  fallibility,  no  human  infirmity,  in  selecting  and  arranging 
materials.  All  is  done  with  a  Divine  master-workman's 
knowledge  and  skill.  Christ  selects  every  part  and  builds  it 
into  the  whole  sacred  Temple.  And  He  never  builds  upon 
Himself,  and  into  union  with  Himself,  the  souls  of  unbelieving, 
hypocritical,  or  self-deceiving  men.  He  builds  wath  those 
only,  who  accept  His  invitation,  "  come  to  Him"  by  faith 
and  find  "rest  unto  their  souls;"  those  only,  who  live  and 
walk  in  Him,  and  who  are  thus  "  rooted  and  built  up  in  Him, 
and  stablished  in  the  faith."  This  it  is,  that  makes  His  Church 
immovable.  Against  the  Church,  in  a  merely  visible  sense, 
the  gates  of  Hell  have  oft  prevailed.  By  the  floods  w^hich  have 
poured  through  those  open  gates,  the  Churches  of  Jerusalem 
and  Antioch,  the  Church  of  Africa,  and  the  Seven  Churches  of 
Proconsular  Asia,  have  all  been  swept  away.  The  same  has 
virtually  happened  to  all  the  other  and  later  Churches  of  the 
East ;  mere  fragments  of  them  standing,  as  if  to  make  their 
desolations  the  more  visible.  While,  as  to  even  the  Great 
Western  Church  of  the  seven  hilled  city,  though  those  wasteful 
floods  leave  her  still  standing  in  imposing  magnitude,  yet  have 
they  filled  her  with  their  own  deep  impurities,  and  prevailed  to 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.       MATT.    XVl.    18.  57 

make  her  the  grand  enemy  of  the  Gospel.  But,  the  true  Church 
of  Christ,  the  Church  of  all  believers,  the  Church  which  He  has 
built  and  is  buildin";,  the  Church  which  He  is  cementino;  to 
Himself  in  iaith  from  all  names  and  all  nations,  this  has  never 
been  moved  ;  against  this  the  floods  from  the  gates  of  hell  have 
beaten  and  shall  forever  beat,  in  vain.  Against  this  they  never 
have  prevailed,  and  never  shall  prevail.  For  this  rests  on 
Christ ;  this  Christ  keeps  safe  from  every  storm. 

Such,  then,  I  humbly  venture  to  conclude,  is  the  true  sense 
of  this  famous  passage  from  the  teachings  of  Chist.  In  looking 
for  the  meaning  of  such  very  peculiar  language,  avowedly 
intended  to  draw  Himself  into  view,  and  that,  in  His  most 
essential.  Divine  and  life-giving  office,  it  is  infinitely  below  the 
subject  to  suppose  that  He  ends  by  merely  presenting  His 
Church,  as  founded  on  a  fallible  creature,  and  built  by  an 
imperfect  human  ministry,  sent  forth,  in  all  their  infirmity  of 
judgment,  to  gather  into  an  outward  society  all  sorts  of  men ; 
the  believing  and  the  unbelieving,  the  holy  and  the  unholy; 
united,  as  such  heterogeneous  elements  must  necessarily  be,  by 
mere  visible  bonds  in  a  mere  external  organization.  Nothing 
can  come  up  to  the  nature  and  design  of  the  occasion  and 
the  discourse,  but  that  which  considers  Him  as  presenting 
Himself,  "the  Anointed  Son  of  the  Living  God,"  the  living 
and  the  life-giving  Savior,  building  His  own  Spiritual  Church 
on  Himself;  by  His  Word  and  Spirit  calling,  teaching  and 
drawing  believing  hearts  and  sanctified  souls  info  vital  union 
with  Himself;  and  thus  constituting  them  in  Himself  an 
impregnable  and  immovable  Church;  the  great  spiritual 
"assembly"  of  those,  who  "have  received  Christ  Jesus  the 
Lord,"  who  "walk  in  Him,"  and  are  "rooted  and  built  up  in 
Him,  and  established  in  the  faith."*  This  is  Christ's  work  as 
Builder ;  and  those  only,  who  are  effectual  subjects  of  this 
work,  are  members  of  that  Church,  which  He  builds  on 
Himself,  never  to  be  moved. 

I  have  dwelt  longer  than  I  intended  on  this  passage  ;  but  its 
importance  justifies  the  notice,  which  it  has  received.     I  will 

•Col.  iJ;  0,7. 


58  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

onlj^  add,  that,  at  the  time  when  Christ  uttered  these  words, 
no  distinctly  Christian  organization  existed  5  and  therefore  the 
word  Church,  or  Ecclesia,  here  must  mean,  either,  1,  the 
Spiritual  Church  of  which  I  have  spoken,  the  Holy  Assembly 
of  all  in  all  ages,  who  are  saved  in  Christ ;  or,  2,  the  then 
visible  Church  under  the  Jewish  Dispensation,  followed  by 
its  successor,  afterwards  to  be  gathered  from  among  Gentile 
nations  ;  although  the  Jewish  portion  was  then  about  to  crucify 
the  Son  of  God,  while  the  Gentile  has  often  been  guilty  of 
"  crucifying  Him  afresh,  and  putting  Him  to  an  open  shame." 
Was  it,  then,  in  this  latter,  this  visible  sense,  that  Christ,  on  so 
peculiar  an  occasion,  spoke  of  building  His  Church  on  Himself, 
and  with  such  a  firmness  of  union  that  it  should  never  be 
moved]  The  Jewish  organization  has  fallen  ;  and  numerous 
threatenings  against  guilty  Gentile  organizations  have  long 
since  been  executed  in  the  ruin  which  has  engulfed  them. 
No  !  The  Church  built  on  Christ  has  another  character,  and 
shares  another  destiny. 

2.  I  cite,  next,  Acts  ii ;  47,  "And  the  Lord  added  daily  to 
THE  Church  such  as  should  be  saved ;  literally  ;  "  The  Lord 
daily  added  the  saved,  touc:  tfw^oixs'vou.c,  to  the  Church." 

This,  also,  was  spoken  before  the  first  elements  of  distinctly 
Christian  organization  had  appeared.  As  a  "  communion  of 
Saints,"  indeed,  the  Church,  the  "  Ecclesia,"  had  existed  from 
the  beginning,  and  was  then  in  true  being.  A  peculiar  Jewish 
organization  also,  under  the  form  of  a  Theocratic  State,  had 
long  been  known,  though  it  was  then  passing  out  of  life. 
But,  as  a  distinctly  visible  Christian  organization,  the  Church, 
as  we  understand  the  term,  had  scarcely  begun  to  develope 
itself. 

The  sense  of  the  passage,  just  recited,  may  be  thus  given  : 
"  The  Lord  daily  increased  the  assembly,  '  the  Ecclesia,'  by 
the  numbers  which  were  saved."  The  increase  of  the  Church  was 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  increase  of  "  the  saved."  No  other 
element  of  it  seems  to  have  been  then  in  view.  The  Church, 
here  described,  was  evidently  the  simple  aggregate  of  individ- 
uals,  saved    in    Christ  Jesus.     The  Spiritual  Church,    "the 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.       ACTS  II  ;  47.       EPH.  I  ;  22,  23.         59 

Communion  of  Saints,"  the  Ecclesia  of  the  Saved,  is  the  all- 
comprehending  idea. 

3.  Again  ;  in  Ephesians,  i ;  22,  23,  occurs  the  passage  which 
was  noticed  in  explaining  the  metaphor  of  a  Temple.  Speak- 
ing of  the  supreme  dominion  of  Christ,  the  Apostle  says ;  The 
Father  "gave  him  to  be  Head  over  all  to  the  Church  which 
is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all." 

In  seeking  the  true  idea  of  the  Church,  of  which  Christ  is 
here  called  the  Head,  it  is  important  to  observe  the  class  of 
persons,  of  whom,  in  this  part  of  his  Epistle,  the  writer  is 
speaking.  He  had  just  been  speaking,  then,  of  "  The  hope  of 
Christ's  calling;"  and  of  "The  riches  of  the  glory  of  His 
Inheritance  in  the  Saints ;"  and  of  "  The  greatness  of  His 
power  to-us-ward,  who  believe  :"  and  then,  having  penned  the 
passage  before  us,  he  immediately  proceeds  to  speak  of  those, 
who  having  been  "dead  in  trepasses  and  sins,"  were  at  length, 
unlike  all  the  rest  of  a  dead  world,  "quickened  together  with 
Christ,  and  raised  up  together,  and  made  to  sit  together  in 
heavenly  places,"  or  relations,  "  in  Christ  Jesus,"  It  must, 
therefore,  be  allowed  that  the  persons,  whom  the  Apostle  had 
in  his  mind,  when  he  here  used  the  word,  Church,  were  the 
renewed  subjects  of  Christ's  mighty  and  saving  power  through 
the  Gospel.  His  whole  discourse,  in  this  part,  teems  with  the 
loftiest  possible  conceptions  of  the  character  and  privileges  of 
those,  who  thus  belong,  in  faith  and  holiness,  to  Christ.  These 
conceptions  lie  all  round  the  word,  Church,  as  here  used  ;  they 
enter  into  that  word,  and  imbody  themselves  alone  in  the 
idea,  to  which  the  name.  Church,  is  here  given.  This  Church 
imbodies  "hope  of  Christ's  calling;"  this  Church  is  "His 
Inheritance  in  the  Saints ;"  this  Church  displays  "  the  exceed- 
ing greatness  of  His  power  towards  them  that  believe  ;"  this  is 
the  Church  which,  in  the  true  sense,  constitutes  "  His  Body  ;" 
and  to  this,  by  a  divine  affinity,  He  is  united  as  "  Head."  This 
is  the  true  "  Fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all." 

These  last  words  evidently  fix  this  idea,  as  the  true  sense  of 
the  term,  Church,  in  this  place  ;  "the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth 
all  in  all."  The  Church  is  liere  called  "the  fulness  of  Christ," 
not  because  He  is  permanently  incarnate  in  the  Church,  by  the 


60  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

presence  and  communication  of  His  real  Body  and  Blood,  but, 
because,  without  His  Church,  He  is  pleased  to  consider  Him- 
self incomplete,  wanting  the  most  important  of  the  "Princi- 
palities and  powers,"  that  are  subject  unto  Him.  This  Church 
is  the  COMPLEMENT,  or  FULNESS,  of  Himself  J  that,  which  renders 
Him  complete  or  full  in  His  spiritual  dominion.  A  king  must 
have  a  kingdom  ;  and  a  head  a  body.  The  idea  of  the  one 
would  be  incomplete  without  the  other.  A  kingdom,  there- 
fore, ma}'-  be  called  the  complement,  or  fulness,  of  a  king ; 
and  a  body,  the  complement,  or  fulness,  of  a  Head.  In  this 
sense,  the  Church  is  "the  fulness  of  Christ."  If  is  that  body, 
without  which  the  very  idea  of  His  headship  would  be  incom- 
plete. Hence,  His  Apostle  declares  :  "  Ye  are  complete  in 
Him,  which  is  the  Head  of  all  principality  and  power."* 
What,  then,  is  the  character  of  that  Body,  w^hich  is  thus 
Christ's  "  fullness  V  Are  wicked  men,  baptized  unbelievers 
and  hypocrites,  part  of  Christ's  fulness  1  Is  the  idea  of  His 
headship  incomplete  without  them  X 

It  might,  indeed,  be  said,  that  the  Church,  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  idea  of  Christ's  Headship,  is  one,  which  may  contain 
some  false  and  dead  members ;  and  that  therefore  a  mixed 
Church  may  here  be  described  as  "  the  fulness  of  Christ." — 
But,  as  if  to  shew  the  inadmissibility  of  this  construction,  the 
expression  is  made  still  more  peculiar  ;  "  the  fulness  of  Him, 
that  fiUeth  all  in  all."  Taken  in  its  connexion,  this  is  not  a 
mere  general  assertion  of  Christ's  omnipresence,  and  all-sus- 
taining Providence  in  the  world  ;  but  a  special  declaration  of 
His  indwelling  and  nurture  of  His  whole  Church.  He  falls 
this  Church  "  all  in  all :"  that  is;  He  fills  all  the  members  of 
His  true,  mystical  Body  with  all  spiritual  grace;  wath  all  that 
is  necessary  to  the  perfecting  of  the  divine  whole.  The  Church 
is  His  "  Fulness;"  and  He  thus  fills  the  Church  "  all  in  all." 
There  is  no  member  of  the  Church  as  here  intended,  whom 
He  does  not  ultimately  fill  with  "  all  spiritual  grace  and 
benediction." 

4.  In  a  similar  sense  is  the  word  used  in  the  tiiird  chapter  of 
this  same  Epistle,  (vs.  10,  20,  21.)  Immediately  after  his 
beautiful  description  of  the  Church,  already  noticed  under  the 
*  Col.  ii  ]  lO.j 


LITERAL  PASSAGES.    EPH.  Ill  ;   10,  20,  2  1.    C0L.i:9,  29.       61 

metaphor  of  a  Tempi?,  the  Apostle  returns  to  the  literal  use 
of  the  word,  Church,  and,  in  his  peculiarly  elevated  strain, 
declares  that  "  God  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  the 
intent  that  now,  unto  the  Principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly 
places,  might  be"  made  "known  by  the  Church  the  manifold 
wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose,  which  He 
purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  And  then,  as  a  Doxology 
to  that  most  sublime  prayer,  which  closes  the  chapter,  he  adds  ; 
"And  now,  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power  that 
worketh  in  us,  to  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Christ 
Jesus,  throughout  all  ages,  world  without  end." 

Literally,  this  last  expression  runs  j  "  To  Him  be  glory  in 
the  Church  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  the  grammatic  turn  of  the 
language  being  precisely  like  that  in  Acts  vii ;  38 ;  where 
Moses  is  called  ;  "  He  that  was  in  the  Church  in  the  wilder- 
ness."* 

"  To  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;" 
the  Church  which  is  in  Him  truly,  and  by  a  divine  afiinity.— 
A  visible  and  mixed  Church  is  not,  as  a  whole,  truly  in  Christ. 
Only  a  part  of  it,  true  and  sanctified  believers,  is  thus  in  Him. 
But  the  whole  Church,  here  presented,  is  in  Christ.  It  is 
"The  Church  in  Christ  Jesus."  It  is,  therefore,  the  spiritual 
and  holy,  in  distinction  from  a  visible  and  mixed.  Church,  of 
which  the  Apostle  speaks.  This  alone  comes  up,  fully  and 
justifyingly,  to  the  amazing  strength  of  the  language  used.  This 
alone  is  the  Church,  which  "now  makes  known,  and  will 
forever  and  ever  make  known,  to  the  heavenly  Principalities 
and  powers,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God."  This  alone  was 
a  Body  fit  to  be  comprehended  in  God's  ''eternal  purpose, 
which  He  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

5.  A  passage,  parallel  in  import  with  the  last  two,  is  seen  in 
the  first  chapter  of  Col.  (9,  29).  The  Apostle  is  there  speak- 
ing of  those,  whom  God  had  "  made  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  Saints  in  light  j"  whom  He  "had  delivered 
from  the  power  of  darkness  and  translated  into  the  kingdom  of 
His  dear  Son  j"  who  had  been  "  alienated  and  enemies  in  their 

*  "  41'  Tyj  ixx}.r}f^La  iv  Xpt9T'9    I>j(joi}" 


62  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

minds  by  wicked  works,"  but  wbom  Christ  "  had  now  recon- 
ciled in  the  body  of  His  flesh  through  death,  to  present  them  holy 
and  unblamable,  and  unreprovable  in  his  sight ;"  and  to  whom, 
as  "  Saints,"  God  had  "  made  manifest"  "  the  glory  of  His 
mystery  among  the  Gentiles,  which  was,  Christ  in  them  the 
hope  of  glory."  This  whole  body  is  represented  as  "  recon- 
ciled "  to  God  "  through  the  blood  of  the  Cross  ;  and  as  exist- 
ing, like  the  Spiritual  Family  formerly  described,  "  whether  in 
Earth  or  in  Heaven."  In  the  very  midst  of  these  strong  expres- 
sions, exclusively  descriptive  of  the  Saints  and  of  the  Evangelic 
kingdom  of  Christ,  the  Apostle  brings  in  the  same  idea  as 
before  of  Christ's  supreme  dominion  over  heavenly  Principali- 
ties and  powers ;  of  His  creation  of  all  things  ;  and  of  the 
Father's  pleasure  "  that  in  Him  should  all  fulness  dwell :"  and 
it  is  while  uttering  all  this  that  Paul  says  of  Christ ;  "  He  is  the 
Head  of  the  Body — the  Church  :"  while  he  professes,  for  Him- 
self, to  "rejoice  in  His  sufferings  for"  the  Saints,  and  in  "  filling 
up  in  his  flesh  that  which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  for 
His  Body's  sake,  which  is  the  Church,"  It  must  be  admitted, 
then,  that  the  Word,  Church,  here,  means  the  whole  aggregate, 
in  heaven  and  earth,  of  the  saints.  The  very  idea  of  the 
Church,  as  here  presented,  is  simply  a  complex,  or  collection 
of  the  Holy  ones  described.  In  what  is  said,  there  is  nothing 
to  suggest  any  other  comprehension,  or  character,  of  this 
divinely  mystical  Body  of  Christ. 

6.  I  come  now  to  the  passage  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
discourse  (Eph.  v  ;  25-27)  ;  "  Even  as  Christ  also  loved  the 
Church  and  gave  Himself  for  it ;  that  he  might  sanctify  and 
cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  Word  ;  that  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish." 

If  the  Church  here  mentioned  be  the  visible  Church,  com- 
posed of  all  the  Baptized,  we  shall  be  driven  to  admit, 
as  multitudes  strenuously  claim,  that  all  the  Baptized  are 
saved  ;  and  that,  in  order  to  their  salvation,  a  Purgatory 
is  necessary  to  purify  the  myriads  of  them,  who  die  under 
all  the  defilements  of  sin.     For,  that   the  Church,  which  this 


LITERAL    PASSAGES.      EPH.  V  J  25-27.       ITIM.  lli;]5.       63 

passage  describes,  is  all  saved,  is  manifest  from  wliat  pre- 
cedes, as  well  as  from  the  passage  itself.  The  words  occur  in 
the  midst  of  an  exhortation  to  husbands  and  wives.  "  The 
husband,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  is  the  head  of  the  wife,  even  as 
Christ  is  the  Head  of  the  Church :  and  He  is  the  Savior  of  the 
Body."  That  is :  marriage  is  a  sacred  symbol  of  the  union 
between  Christ  and  the  Church.  With  the  Church  as  here 
intended,  Christ  holds  a  living  and  Spiritual  affinity.  His 
union  with  it  is  saving,  "  He  is  the  Savior  of  the  Body."  The 
whole  Body,  of  which  He  is  the  Saviour,  is  identical  with  the 
whole  Church,  of  which  he  is  the  Head.  As  no  part  of  the 
Body,  of  which  He  is  Savior,  is  lost ;  so,  no  member  of  the 
Church,  of  which  He  is  thus  the  Head,  perishes.  His  Headship 
in  it  is  vital,  sanctifying,  saving.  And  so  it  follows  ;  He 
"loved  this  Church,"  all  of  it,  "and  gave  Himself  for  it,  that 
He  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by 
the  Word  ;"  or,  by  the  sanctifying  and  cleansing  power  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  Truth,  as  predicted  under  the  figures  of  sprink- 
ling and  pouring  clean  water  on  the  people  of  God  ;*  and  "  that 
He  might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  Church  ;  not  having 
spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy 
and  without  blemish." 

Such  is  the  Church  of  which  St.  Paul  says,  "  Christ  is  the 
Savior  of  the  Body."  In  other  words  ;  the  Church,  here  in- 
tended, is  the  Body  of  the  saved  in  Christ  Jesus.  Can  it,  then, 
be  admitted,  that  he  is  here  speaking  of  the  visible  Church, 
composed  of  all  the  Baptized  ?  Is  Christ  the  Savior  of  this 
Body,  taken  as  a  whole  ?  We  cannot  receive  a  proposition  so 
evidently  untrue.  And  yet,  the  Church,  in  this  passage,  is  just 
that  Body,  of  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  Christ  is  the  Savior. 
The  Apostle,  therefore,  is  not  speaking  of  the  visible  Church 
of  the  Baptized,  but  of  the  spiritual  Church  of  the  saved. 

7.  The  well-known  passage  (I  Tim.  iii ;  15),  is,  also,  by  some 
of  our  old  writers,  understood  in  the  same  sense  :  "  That  thou 
mightest  know  how  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the 
House"  (or  household)  "of  God  ;  which  is  the  Church  of  the 
living  God  ',  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  Truth." 

♦  Ezck.  xxxvi ;  25-27.    I&a.  xliv  ;  3. 


64  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

Speaking  in  the  style  of  those  old  writers,  we  should  say : 
the  Church,  here  named,  is  the  live  Church  of  the  living  God. 
As  such,  it  is  really  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  Truth."  It 
receives,  exhibits  and  supports  the  Truth,  always,  in  its  purity 
and  its  entireness.  Nothing,  short  of  its  Divine  Head,  is  so 
precious  to  it,  as  this  Truth,  loftily  held  up,  and  unwaveringly 
sustained.  Death  is  sweeter  to  this  Church  than  treason  to 
the  Truth.  This  cannot  be  said  of  the  Church  as  a  visible  and 
mixed  Body.  In  this  character,  it  has  often  rejected,  and 
oftener  still  corrupted  or  concealed,  the  true  and  saving  Word 
of  God.  It  is  only  the  live  Church  of  Christ,  that  always 
retains,  magnifies  and  preserves  the  pure  Word  of  His  living 
Truth. 

8.  Again,  in  Heb,  ii  ;  10-12,  we  have  this  remarkable  lan- 
vuage  :  "  It  became  Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  by  whom 
are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glovy,  to  make  the 
Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  safFerlngs  ;  for  both 
He  that  sanctifieth  and  they  that  are  sanctified,  are  all  of  one  ; 
for  which  cause  He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren  :  say- 
ing, I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  brethren ;  in  the  midst 
of  THE  Church  will  I  sing  praise  unto  thee." 

Here,  the  meaning  of  the  word.  Church,  appears  unconceal- 
ably  manifest.  God  proposes  to  Himself  a  vast  object ;  the 
"  bringing  of  many  sons  to  glory,"  the  salvation  of  the  great 
company  of  Holy  ones :  He  furnishes  the  means  of  securing 
this  vast  object,  by  "  making  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  per- 
fect through  sufferings,"  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of 
God :  He  educes  the  result  of  the  whole,  in  the  one  sacred 
family  of  Him  that  sanctifieth,  and  them  that  are  sanctified. 
And  then,  this  sanctifying  Savior  appears  among  them,  call- 
ing them  His  Brethren,  His  Spiritual  Kin,  and  naming  them 
the  Church,  in  the  midst  of  which  He  is  to  praise  the  gra- 
cious Father  of  this  whole  plan  and  consumation.  Here,  the 
word,  Church,  is  palpably  a  mere  synonym  for  the  blessed 
company  of  those  whom  Christ  calls  His  "  Brethren"  ;  His 
brethren,  not  only  in  that  He  shares  with  them  their  human 
nature,  but  in  that  they  share  with  Him  His  Spiritual  Life. 
And  carrying  back  the.  thought  through  the  sentence  ;  this 
company  of  brethren  with  Christ  are  but  identical  with  that 


LITERAL   PASSAGES.      HEB.    XII  ;    22-24.  65 

one  sacred  family,  of  the  Sanctifier  and  the  sanctified  ;  as  these, 
in  their  turn,  are  but  identical  with  that  bright  army  of  "  sons," 
whom,  under  the  victorious  "  Captain  of  their  salvation,"  God 
is,  from  age  to  age,  "  bringing  to  glory."  The  passage  pre- 
sents us  with  but  one  Company,  though  under  different  names; 
so  that  what  comes  out  as  the  Church  in  the  last,  is  but  another 
term  for  the  Sons  of  Glory  in  the  first,  of  these  significant  ex- 
pressions. 

9.  I  have  but  one  further  passage  to  cite.  It  is,  however,  if 
possible,  more  decisive  of  the  point  before  us  than  even  that 
just  considered.  It  is  in  Heb.  xii ;  22-24'.  ''Ye  are  come,"  says 
the  Apostle,  not  to  Mount  Sinai,  but  "to  Mount  Zion,  unto  the 
City  of  the  living  God,  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  ;  even  to  an 
innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  General  Assembly  and 
Church  of  the  first  born,  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and 
to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood 
of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  things  than  that  of  Abel." 

Here  ligbt  shines,  as  with  a  perfect  demonstration,  on  the 
point,  which  I  am  illustrating.  "  The  Mount  Zion,  the  City  of 
the  living  God,  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem,"  are  but  different 
synonyms  for  the  whole  Communion  and  fellowship  of  God's 
holy  subjects ;  consisting  (as  our  hymn  expresses  the  idea),  of 
"Angels  and  living  saints  and  dead;"  or  (as  the  words,  just 
read,  import),  of  "  the  innum.erable  company  of  angels,"  the 
"  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  First-born,  written  in 
heaven,"  and  the  "  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect ;"  the  whole 
in  subjection  to  "  God,  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  Jesus,  the  Me- 
diator of  the  new  Covenant."  With  Angels,  as  one  part  of  this 
great  Communion,  our  argument  is  not  specially  concerned. 
Our  interest,  at  present,  is  with  the  other  part,  "  Living  Saints 
and  dead."  These,  together,  make  up  "  the  General  Assembly 
and  Church  of  the  First-born,  which  are  written  in  Heaven" 
while  living  on  earth,  and  which,  upon  reaching  Heaven,  be- 
come "  Spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect ;"  as  this  Church,  to- 
gether with  "  the  innumerable  company  of  Angels,"  makes  up 
"the  City  of  the  living  God,  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem." 

Here,  then,  is  the  Church  in  the  very  idea  of  it,  which  we 
5 


66  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

have  been  seeking  ;  the  whole  "  Assembly,"  on  earth  and  in 
heaven,  of  saved  and  glorified  souls.  It  is  not  the  Church  as 
it  will  be  after  the  Judgment  Day  ;  but  the  Church,  as  it  now 
is,  consisting  of  those  saints,  who  live  in  the  flesh,  and  of  those 
who  live  only  in  the  spirit.  And,  to  this  Church  every  true 
believer  comes,  when  he  comes  by  a  living  faith  to  Christ. 
*'  Ye  are  come  to  the  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  first 
born."* 

We  may  as  well  say  that,  not  till  after  the  Judgment,  do  true 
believers  "  come  to  God,  and  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
Covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  5"  as  to  say  that  they 
do  not  come  into  this  Church  till  that  time.  Because  part  of 
this  Church  is  in  Heaven,  that  is  no  reason  why  we  may  not 
enter  it  on  earth.  We  must  enter  it  on  earth,  or  we  never 
shall  enter  it  in  Heaven.  True  believers  "  come  now  to  God ;" 
they  come,  in  this  life,  "  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
Covenant,"  and  to  the  precious  "blood  of  sprinkling;"  and 
they  come  in  this  life  even  "  to  the  innumerable  company  of 
Angels,  and  to  the  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,"  con- 
sidered as  parts  of  "  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem,"  or  of  the  uni- 
versal fellowship  of  the  holy.  They  come  to  all  these  now, 
in  the  faith,  that  makes  them  one  in  Christ ;  in  the  realizing  of 
Life  Eternal,  begun  already  in  their  souls  ;  and  in  the  inner 
sealings  of  the  Spirit,  "  whereby  they  are  sealed  unto  the  Day 
of  Redemption."  These  are  all  present  realities  ;  the  earthly 
privileges  of  their  "  citizenship  in  Heaven  ;"  the  seals  of  their 
heirship,  yea,  their  joint  heirship  with  Christ,  of  the  full  and 
glorious  inheritance  of  His  Everlasting  Kingdom.  They  wait 
not  for  these  things,  in  dubious  gloom,  till  the  darkness  of  the 
grave  be  passed.  The  light  of  them  shines  full  on  their  blessed 
lot  in  the  land  of  the  living.  All  these  things,  however,  are 
no  more  surely  God's  Truth  than  is  this  other  ;  that  true  Chris- 


*  It  is,  to  me,  quite  surprising  that  McKnight  renders  Heb.  xii ;  22-24,  ("  Ye 
are  come  unto  Mount  Zion,  etc.")  by  "  Ye  shall  come,  etc.,"  on  the  ground,  that 
we  cannot  be  said  to  come  now  ''  to  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem ;"  that  advent 
being  a  yet  future  event.  He  Hebraistically  changes  a  Greek  prosterite  into  a 
future  tense ;  though  the  very  obvious  sense,  which  I  have  given,  rendered  such 
a  violent  resort  needless. 


LITERAL   PASSAGES.  67 

tians  come  now  to  this  "  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the 
First-born."  The  names  of  all  the  members  of  this  Church  are 
"written  in  Heaven,"  while  they  sojourn  on  earth  ;  and  the 
Church,  to  which  they  thus  belong,  hath  a  life,  which,  at  the 
same  time,  touches  and  animates  every  Saint  below,  and  every 
Saint  above. 

This,  then,  is  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  its  essence,  and  in  ita 
true  comprehension.  The  Bible  teaches  this  doctrine  of  the 
Church.  Every  soul  that  hath  true  faith  in  Christ  and  is  saved, 
is  a  member  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  of  His  Church  in  its 
most  essential  characteristics;  and  this  idea  of  His  Church  is 
unspeakably  more  important  than  all  that  men  can  conceive 
of  outward  splendor,  or  even  of  visible  unity. 

I  close  here  my  examination  of  passages  in  support  of  the 
definition  of  the  Church  with  which  I  started.  All  the  meta- 
phors illustrated,  and  all  the  texts  of  literal  import  explained, 
are  filled  with  light  from  this  last  description  of  the  Church. 
They  all  come  together  and  find  their  full  expression  in  this 
one  graphic  outline  of  the  true  Church  of  Christ,  as  it  now 
exists  on  earth  and  in  heaven. 

"What  remains  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  and  before  pro- 
ceeding to  consider  the  Church  in  its  more  visible  aspects,  is, 
to  notice  some  objections  to  the  view  which  has  been  taken  ; 
to  show  its  importance  in  Christian  theology,  and  to  compare 
it  with  our  own  standards,  and  what  may  be  termed,  the 
standard  writers  of  our  Protestant  Reformation.  To  these 
points,  therefore,  I  propose  to  pass  in  my  next  discourse, 


DISCOURSE  IV. 


"  Yz  believe  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  my  sheep.— John  x  ;  26." 


It  was  one  of  the  strong  features  of  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation, that  it  drew  into  prominence  that  long  hidden  idea  of 
the  Church,  which  it  has  heen  the  object  of  these  discourses  to 
present.  "  The  Church,"  said  one  of  the  teachers  of  that 
great  age,  "  is  the  congregation,"  the  assembly,  the  ecclesia, 
"  of  those  who  are  united  by  the  same  Spirit,  the  same  faith, 
the  same  God,  the  same  Mediator,  the  same  Word  ;  by  which 
alone  they  are  governed,  and  in  which  alone  they  have  life."* 
A  modern  historian  of  that  age  speaks  thus  :  *'  Undoubtedly 
the  Lord  has  left  His  Church  outward  seals  of  His  grace  ;  but 
He  has  not  attached  salvation  to  these  signs.  The  essential 
point  is,  the  connexion  of  the  faithful  with  the  Word,  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  with  the  Head  of  the  Church.  This  is  the 
great  truth,  which  the  Reform  proclaims."!  The  opposite  doc- 
trine had  tended  to  generate,  at  least  in  the  common  mind,  the 
idea  that  "  the  Church  saves."  It  was  the  great  work  of  Re- 
formation to  bring  out,  into  proper  distinctness,  the  truth  that 
"  Christ  alone  saves  ;"  and  that  His  true  Church  is  just  the 
Body,  or  Communion  of  those  whom  He  saves. 

I.  But,  against  this  idea  of  the  Church  it  is  objected,  that 
it  rests  on  the  distinction  between  what  has  been  called  the 
Visible  and  the  Invisible  Church.  This  distinction,  it  is  con- 
tended, is  groundless.     To  many  Christians,   the  thought  of 

*  Vide  D'Aubigne's  Hist.  Ref.,  vol.  iv.  p.  34.  f  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  p.  107. 


70  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

giving  the  name,  Church,  to  the  simple  aggregate  of  tliose  who 
believe  in  Christ  unto  eternal  life,  and  whose  hearts  are,  with 
certainty,  known  to  God  only,  is  even  positively  distasteful. 

But,  why  should  this  be  1  That  there  is  a  great  company, 
composed  exclusively  of  saints,  or  true  believers  in  Christ 
made  holy  ;  that  He  is,  in  the  truest  sense,  their  Spiritual,  or 
Mystical  Head ;  and  that  they  are,  in  the  truest  sense.  His 
Spiritual,  or  Mystical  Body  ;  these  are  things  as  certain  as 
that  there  are  a  Bible  and  a  Savior.  Why,  then,  should  not 
the  name,  Church,  be  given  to  what  is  thus,  in  reality,  a 
Church,  to  the  holy  company  thus  constituting  one  Mj^stical 
Body  and  Head  1  It  has  been  shown,  as  I  humbly  venture  to 
think,  that,  to  this  holy  Communion,  the  name.  Church,  is 
given  by  Inspiration  itself.  The  Bible,  it  is  true,  speaks  of 
visible  and  organized  bodies,  as  Churches.  Such  were  the 
Seven  Churches  of  the  Lesser  Asia,  and  other  distinct  Chris- 
tian organizations.  But,  it  also  speaks  of  the  Body  of  the 
Saved,  of  true  believers  in  Christ,  as  the  Church ;  and  there- 
fore justifies  the  distinction  between  the  Visible  and  the  Spirit- 
ual Church.  These  are  not,  indeed,  two  separate  and  indepen- 
dent Bodies,  without  any  mutual  relation.  The  one  is  included 
in  the  other;  as  the  wheaten  kernels  are  contained  in  the  straw 
and  husks.  Still,  the  two  are  distinguishable  and  ought  never 
to  be  confounded.  A  field  of  the  growing  grain,  considered 
as  one  whole,  is  called  wheat.  So,  too,  is  a  measure  of  the 
pure,  clean  kernel,  called  wheat.  And  it  is  the  true  wheat. 
It  is  that  which  gives  name  to  the  whole  crop,  taken  together. 
This  whole  is  called  wheat,  for  the  simple  reason  that,  among 
it,  the  true  wheat  is  found.  Is  this  making  the  straw  and  the 
husk  of  no  value  1  By  no  means.  They  are  highly  import- 
ant. They  minister  externally  to  the  protection  of  the  kernel. 
Yet,  they  are  not  wheat ;  and  when  the  kernel  is  ripe, 
they  are  separated  and  cast  aside.  In  like  manner,  the  whole 
visible,  organized  Body  is  called  the  Church.  So,  too,  is  the 
great  Communion  of  Saints,  taken  separately,  called  the 
Church.  And  it  is,  in  the  truest  sense,  the  Church.  It  is  that, 
which  gives  name  to  the  visible,  and  organized  Society.  This 
visible  Society  is  called,  the  Church,  for  the  simple  reason  that, 


THE  SPIRITUAL  AND  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH  DISTINGUISHED.      71 

within  it  the  true  Church  is  ordinarily  found.  Nor  is  this  to 
disparage  the  Church,  as  a  visible  and  organized  Society. 
This  Society  is  of  great  importance.  In  relation  to  the  true 
Spiritual  Church,  it  discharges  various  and  highly  beneficial 
offices.  Yet,  it  is  not,  in  the  highest  sense,  the  Church ;  and, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  many  of  its  members  are  seen  to  have  none 
but  a  nominal  connexion  with  the  true  Mystic  Body  of  Christ. 

But,  there  are  particular  expressions  in  Scripture,  which 
imply  this  distinction  between  the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual 
Church.  The  passage,  John  x  ;  26,  is  one.  "  Ye  believe  not, 
because  ye  are  not  of  my  sheep,  as  I  said  unto  you."  The  Jews, 
here  addressed,  claimed  to  be  true  descendants  of  Abraham  j 
they  even  claimed  God  as  their  Father  •*  and  they  were 
members  of  the  Visible  Church,  so  far  as  the  Church  then 
visibly  existed.  Yet,  Christ  tells  them  they  were  not  "  of  His 
Sheep,"  as  He  had  before  told  them  they  were  "of  their 
Father,  the  Devil. "f  Notwithstanding  their  membership  in  the 
Visible  Church,  they  were  not  of  Christ's  Sheep  ;  not  of  His 
true  Fold  ;  not  of  His  true  Church.  There  were  then,  as 
well  as  now,  both  the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual  Church  ;  and 
Christ  knew  perfectly  the  distinction,  as  well  as  the  connexion, 
between  the  two. 

The  language  of  St.  Paul  goes  to  the  same  point.  *'  He  is 
not  a  Jew,  who  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is  that  circumcision, 
which  is  outward  in  the  flesh  ;  but,  he  is  a  Jew,  who  is  one 
inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart ;  in  the  spirit 
and  not  in  the  letter  ;  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of 
God. "J  "  They  are  not  all  Israel,  who  are  of  Israel ;  neither 
because  they  are  the  seed  of  Abraham,  are  they  all  children." 
"  That  is,  they  which  are  the  children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not 
the  children  of  God  ;  but  the  children  of  the  promise  are 
counted  for  the  Seed."§  "  Know  ye,  therefore,  that  they 
which  are  of  faith,  the  same  are  the  children  of  Abraham. "|| 

Here,  the  distinction  between  the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual 
Israel,  between  the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual  Church,  is 
palpable.  Membership  in  the  Spiritual  body  is  constituted, 
not   by  a   mere   "outward"   bond,    but  by  a   Divine,    "in- 

•  John  viii ;  33-42.  f  John  viii ;  43,  44.  t  Rom.  ii ;  28,  29. 

§  Rom.  is. ;  6-8.  ||  Gal.  iii ;  7. 


72  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

ward "  work  ;  "  the  circumcision  of  the  heart  ;  in  the 
spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter  ',  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but 
of  God."  "  The  children  of  the  Promise,"  they,  who,  in- 
heriting Abraham's  faith,  have  the  bond  of  a  spiritual  kindred 
with  Abraham ;  these,  and  these  only,  "  are  counted  for  the 
seed."  In  making  up  the  true  family  of  Christ,  the  chosen 
"seed,"  none  but  these  are  "counted;"  none  but  these  are 
taken  into  Heaven's  reckoning.  The  real  Israel,  the  true 
Church  of  Christ,  never  has  been,  and  never  will  be  composed 
of  any  but  this  really  believing  and  holy  seed. 

I  have  referred,  very  briefly,  to  the  foregoing  expressions,  to 
show  that  the  Bible  recognizes  the  distinction,  as  a  vital  one, 
between  the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual  Church  ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, when  we  recognize  and  hold  up  the  distinction,  we  are 
not  following  a  mere  floating  illusion  of  our  own  brain,  but  are 
grasping  one  of  the  settled  verities  of  the  Word  of  God. 
There  is  a  Visible  and  there  is  a  Spiritual  Church.  The  two 
are  distinguishable,  though  related  Bodies.  The  amount  of 
their  relation  is,  however,  a  variable  quantity.  At  times,  they 
have  been  almost  identical;  the  distinction  being  hardly  per- 
ceptible. Then,  again,  they  have  become  immensely  unlike, 
and  held  together  by  scarcely  a  remaining  bond.  Sometimes 
the  Visible  Church  has  been  composed  of  nearly  all  pure 
Wheat.  At  others,  under  long,  mildewing  seasons,  it  has  nearl}' 
all  run  to  straw  and  husks,  with  but  here  and  there  a  sound 
and  ripe  kernel  to  be  found.  Thus,  when  the  fires  of  Pagan 
persecution  kept  the  Church  comparatively  pure  from  dross, 
the  Visible  and  the  Spiritual  Church  were  nearly  one  and  the 
same.  But,  in  later  ages,  when  the  fires  were  lighted  in 
Christ's  name,  and  turned  against  the  true  gold  of  His  own 
Spiritual  Temple  ;  then  the  Visible  Church  contained  little  but 
an  impure,  though  shining  tinsel.  It  became,  in  its  most 
obtrusive  characteristics,  a  splendid  body  of  death,  sitting  on 
thrones  and  chairs  of  state  ;  while  the  spiritual  Church,  so  far, 
at  least,  as  it  was  then  on  earth,  was  a  hidden  body  of  Life, 
concealed  in  caves  and  among  mountains.  The  one  was  mainly 
a  gorgeous  system  of  forms  and  formal  persecutors  ;  the  other, 
a  little  company  of  faith  and  faithful  sufi*erers  ;  the  two  being 


SENSE    IN    WHICH   THE    CHIIRCH    IS    INVISIBLE.  73 

held  together  by  some  remaining  bonds,  but  scarcely  touching 
each  other  by  the  links  of  a  kindred  life.  In  all  ages,  how- 
ever, the  distinction  between  the  two  has  existed.  This  dis- 
tinction has  never  disappeared.  Nor  has  there  ever  been  a 
time,  when  the  name.  Church,  did  not  rightfully  belong  to  the 
Spiritual,  as  thus  distinguished  from  the  Visible  Body. 

It  may  be  well,  before  proceeding  to  show  the  importance 
of  these  views  to  Christian  Theology,  and  their  agreement 
with  our  own  standards,  to  spend  one  moment  in  explaining 
the  sense,  in  which  the  Church,  as  now  presented,  has,  by 
some  been  called.  Invisible,  This  epithet  was  much  used  in 
the  seventeenth  century  ;  that  grand  period  of  theologic  con- 
flict between  the  Protestant  Church  in  England,  and  her 
Romish  opponents.  Whether  it  were  wisely  selected  may  be 
doubtful.  Be  this  as  it  may ;  it  meant,  not  that  the  Church, 
in  this  idea  of  it,  is  a  mere  abstraction,  an  invisible  notion  ; 
but,  that  the  faith  in  Christ  and  its  resulting  holiness,  which 
constitute  men  members  of  this  Church,  are  invisible  ;  seen, 
by  none  but  God.  God  only  knows,  with  absolute  certainty, 
who  belong  to  this  true  Church  of  Christ.  We  may  judge 
men,  reasonably  well,  "  by  their  fruits."  Still,  our  judgments 
on  this  evidence  are  fallible.  God  alone  *'  knoweth  who  are 
His"  in  such  a  way  as  not,  by  possibility,  to  be  deceived. 
For  this  reason,  the  old  writers  called  the  whole  communion 
of  such,  "The  Invisible  Church."  The  persons  of  those,  who 
constitute  it,  so  long  as  they  continue  on  earth,  are  visible  j 
but  their  inward  proofs  of  membership  are  invisible.  Their 
organization  in  Christ,  as  Head,  is  spiritual,  not  an  object  of 
sense.  God  alone  can  point  out  their  persons  with  infallible 
certainty.  Thus  understood,  there  can  be  no  solid  objection 
to  the  term  ;  although  I  have  not  chosen  to  adopt  it  ;  because, 
in  every  respect,  save  that  of  the  secret  of  true  membership 
or  organization  in  Christ,  this  Church  is  as  visible  as  any 
other  body  in  the  vjorld. 

II..  The  importance  to  Christian  Theology  of  the  view 
which  I  have  given,  demands  a  fuller  notice  than  can  now  be 
taken.     I  can  but  glance  at  three  points. 

1.  We  know,  then,  that  Christ  and  His  Apostles  insist  much 


74  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

on  the  union  of  Christians  and  the  unity  of  the  Church. 
They  speak  of  the  benefits  of  this  unity  ;  of  its  necessity,  as 
an  evidence  to  the  world,  of  Christ's  mission  from  the  Father ; 
and  of  the  evil  of  violating  this  unity.  And,  in  His  last,  all- 
prevalent  prayer,  Christ  virtually  prophecies  that  this  unity 
shall  continue  unbroken  ;  and  that  its  glorious  testimony  to  the 
Truth  shall  be  felt  and  acknowledged  by  the  world. 

The  question,  then,  arises  ;  was  this  sacred,  this  divine  unity, 
predicated  of  the  Visible,  or  of  the  Spiritual  Church  1  And 
it  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions  in  Christian  Theo- 
logy. Volumes  have  been  written  on  it.  In  answer,  however, 
I  have  space  to  say  but  this  ;  the  unity,  on  which  Christ  so 
fervently  insists,  that  blest  and  heavenly  bond,  which  makes 
Christians  one,  even  as  Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  this 
unity  resides  in  the  Spiritual  Church.  It  is  a  reality,  and  an 
actuality  in  this  Church  and  in  no  other.  In  this  Church  it 
has  never  been  broken.  Injured,  in  some  degree,  it  may  have 
been,  through  human  infirmity  ;  but,  broken  it  has  never  been. 
In  the  main  it  has  been  preserved  untouched.  True  disciples 
of  Christ  have  disputed,  and,  while  unknown  to  each  other, 
have  indulged  harsh  and  unkind  feelings.  But,  it  has  never 
needed  more  than  that  they  should  come  together  and  know 
each  other  truly,  to  show  them  how  perfectly,  in  all  essential 
things,  they  were  one  in  Christ.  This  coming  together  in 
thorough,  mutual  knowledge,  has  ever  proved  the  joining  of 
the  two  ends  of  that  electric  chain  of  spiritual  kindred,  which, 
starting  from  the  heart  of  Christ,  passes  round  through  the 
heart  of  every  true  Christian,  and,  returning  to  Christ  again, 
holds  the  whole  in  one  sacred  brotherhood.  That  touch  of 
mutual  knowledge  and  intercourse  has  ever  been  all  that  was 
needed  to  start  the  current  of  their  sympathetic  life,  and  put 
it  instantly  in  warm,  and  glowing,  and  blissful  circulation ! 
O  yes  !  It  is  true  ;  it  is  no  dream  !  This  mutual  and  thorough 
knowledge  of  each  other  has  ever  been,  to  true  Christians,  the 
sweet  and  silent  voice  of  Christ  in  their  hearts,  speaking  their 
brief  tempests  into  a  perfect  calm  and  making  them  realize 
that  the  vessel,  in  which  they  are  embarked,  carries  Him,  who 
carries  Heaven !     Under  the   one  divine  Headship  of  Christ, 


IMPORTANCE    OF    THIS   VIEW.  75 

this  spiritual  Church  holds  and  will  forever  hold,  unbroken 
unity  ;  while  eiforts  to  force  unity  on  the  Visible  Church  have 
been  productive,  mainly,  of  either  hypocrisy  or  bloodshed. 

2.  Again,  we  know  that  "  exceedingly  great  and  precious 
promises"  are  made  to  the  followers  of  Christ.  "  Where  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them."  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believ- 
ing, ye  shall  receive."  *'  my  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I  know 
THEM,  and  they  follow  me  ;  and  I  give  unto  them  Eternal 
Life  ;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck 
them  out  of  my  hand."  "  No  weapon,  that  is  formed  against 
thee,  shall  prosper  ;  and  every  tongue,  that  shall  rise  against 
thee  in  judgment,  thou  shalt  condemn."  "  Lo  !  I  am  with 
you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Here,  too,  the  question  arises — with  the  former  equally 
important  to  Christian  Theology  —  are  these  and  kindred 
promises  made  to  Christians  as  a  Visible,  or  as  a  Spiritual 
Church  l  The  brief,  but  unhesitating  answer  is,  they  are 
made  to  them  as  a  Spiritual  Church  ;  as  the  one  whole  Com- 
munion of  Christ's  true  followers.  To  this  Church  alone  are 
they  appropriate  :  to  this  alone  have  they  been  fulfilled.  This 
Church  has,  evermore,  Christ's  presence.  Against  this  Church 
no  weapon  has  ever  prospered.  In  Christ's  promises,  she  is 
virtually  omnipotent.  In  his  faithfulness,  her  final  victory  is 
sure.  His  promises  are  her  heritage  ;  and  his  grace,  her  pos- 
session. His  blessings  clothe  her  as  with  garments  of  salva- 
tion. She  is  "  The  King's  Daughter,  all-glorious  within  5"  and 
her  mercies  have  ever  been,  and  shall  forever  be,  "  The  sure 
mercies  of  David."  All  this  can  be  said  of  the  Church  in  no 
other  sense  than  that,  in  which  she  is  spiritual,  trul}'  a  "  Com- 
munion of  saints."  To  apply  these  promises  to  the  Visible 
Church  is  a  source  of  perilous  delusion  to  the  souls  of  men. 

3.  Once  more  ;  We  know  that  a  species  of  Indefectibility, 
or  Infallibility,  has  been  invested  in  the  Church.  "  The 
Church  of  the  living  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
Truth."  She  is  to  be  "guided"  by  the  Holy  Spirit  "into 
all  Truth."  And,  against  her,  in  her  Truth,  as  well  as  in  her 
fortunes,  "  the  gates  of  Hell  are  never  to  prevail." 


76  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

Here,  again,  the  question  arises  ;  So  far  as  Infallibility  is 
implied  in  these  expressions,  is  it  an  investment  in  the  Visible 
or  in  the  Spiritual  Church]  I  reply ;  in  the  latter,  and  in  no 
other.  This  alone  has  never  either  fatally  or  materially  erred. 
By  the  very  terms  of  its  being,  in  holding  to  Christ,  the  Head, 
it  holds  every  thing  essential,  and  nothing  essentially  opposed, 
to  His  Truth,  The  Spiritual  Church  has  often  bled  in  defence 
of  the  Gospel ;  but  it  has  never  fallen  a  traitor  in  that  defence. 
Not  so,  on  the  contrary  supposition.  The  Visible  Church  has 
often  and  fundamentally  erred.  Indeed,  the  doctrine  of  an 
Infallibility,  vested  in  the  Church,  when  understood  in  this 
sense,  has  done  little  more  than  stereotype  the  most  destructive 
errors. 

The  points,  which  have  now  been  noticed,  have  made 
Christian  Theology,  for  ages,  one  wide  field  of  conflict,  simply 
because  they  have  been  drawn  out  of  their  true  connexion, 
and  forced  into  a  position,  for  which  they  were  not  designed. 
The  conflict  about  them  will  never  cease  till  Christ  again  has 
His  own  ;  till  He  is  acknowledged  as  the  only  centre  of  unity 
in  His  own  spiritual  Church  ;  till  His  Promises  are  regarded  as 
the  heritage  of  this  Church  alone ;  and  till  men  cease  to  seek 
for  Infallibility  save  in  Him  and  in  His  own  inspired  Word. 

III.  In  the  course  of  these  remarks,  I  have  occasionally 
alluded  to  the  fact,  that  the  standards  of  our  Church,  and  the 
standard  writers  of  our  Protestant  Reformation,  sustain  that 
view  of  the  Church,  which  I  have  now  unfolded.  This  opens 
a  wide  field  for  examination  ',  and  I  shall  not  attempt  to  ex- 
plore it  in  its  extent.  A  few  citations  will  be  sufficient  for  the 
object,  which  I  have  in  view. 

1.  In  looking,  then,  at  the  standards  of  our  own  Church,  it 
is  evidently  proper  that,  while  seeking  her  idea  of  the  true, 
Spiritual  Church  of  Christ,  our  eyes  should  be  directed  to  her 
devotional,  rather  than  to  her  dogmatical,  standards  ;  because, 
in  her  devotional  standards,  she  bears  her  part  with  the  whole 
body  of  spiritual  worshippers  ;  and  therefore  speaks  the 
language  of  true  universality  ', — while,  in  her  dogmatical 
standards,  she  is  legislating  for  her  own  government  and  dis- 
cipline, as   a   separate   portion  of  the  Visible  Church  5  and 


TESTIMONY   OF    OUR    STANDARDS.  77 

therefore  speaks  for  herself  only,  without  claiming  to  bind 
others,  in  all  things,  to  her  judgments.  It  is  in  her  worship, 
emphatically,  that  she  appears  as  the  true  Catholic. 

(1.)  Turn,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Collect  for  "All 
Saints'  Day."  God  is  there  addressed,  as  "  having  knit  together 
His  Elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship,  in  the  mystical 
Body  of  His  Son,  Christ,  our  Lord :"  and  we  pray  for  "  grace 
so  to  follow  His  blessed  Saints  in  all  virtuous  and  godly  living, 
that  we  may  come  to  those  unspeakable  joys,  which  he  has 
prepared  for  those,  who  unfeignedly  love  Him,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord." 

Now,  this  language  is  strictly  evidence  in  the  case  before 
us.  Our  Church  is  here  teaching,  as  well  as  praying.  She  is 
uttering  her  mind  on  a  great  and  important  subject ;  and  in 
doing  so,  she  gives  a  distinct  and,  we  may  say,  perfect  defini- 
tion of  the  one  holy  and  universal  Church.  She  styles  it, 
"  God's  elect,"  not  disconnected  and  unorganized,  but  "  knit 
together  in  one  communion  and  fellowship,  in  the  mystical 
Body  of  His  Son,  Christ."  This  "  one  communion  and  fellow- 
ship, knit  together  in  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ,"  is  a  true 
Church  ;  or  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Church  in  Heaven,  or 
on  earth.    Of  whom,  then,  is  this  Church  said  to  be  composed  1 

In  settling  this  point,  observe  you,  the  Collect  is  a  prayer 
for  "  All  Saints."  And  who  are  they  1  Romish  saints  alone  1 
No.  The  saints  of  Episcopal  communions  exclusively  X  No, 
— but  God's  saints ;  His  "  blessed  saints  j"  His  saints  in  Patri- 
archal, and  Hebrew,  and  Jewish  times  ;  His  saints  in  the  days 
of  Christ,  of  His  Apostles,  and  of  all  Christian  ages  ;  His 
saints  now  and  always  ;  His  saints  here  and  every  where  ; 
His  saints  who  are  alive  in  the  flesh,  and  who  have  become,  or 
shall  become  "spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect."  These,  all 
these,  and  only  these,  are  the  members  "  elect" — the  "  knit 
together  in  one  communion  and  fellowship  in  the  mystical 
Body  of  Christ  j"  in  the  one  truly  united  and  Holy  Church,  of 
which  Christ  is  the  divinely  constituted  Head ;  and  the  Collect 
teaches  us  to  pray  for  "  grace,  so  to  follow  these  in  all  virtu- 
ous and  goodly  living,  that  we  may  come  to  those  unspeakable 
joys,  which  God  has  prepared  for  those  who  unfeignedly  love 
Him." 


78  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

This  last  expression  is  a  Biblical  exposition  of  the  word, 
"elect,"  in  the  opening  of  the  Collect.  The  "elect"  are 
those,  who  "  unfeignedly  love  God."  "  All  things,"  says 
St,  Paul,  "  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God — to 
them  that  are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose."  Here  the 
phrase ;  "  them  that  love  God,"  and  the  expression,  "  the 
called,"  or  elect,  "  according  to  his  purpose,"  are  synonymous 
and  mutually  explanatory.  So,  in  the  prayer  before  us,  the 
phrase,  they  who  "unfeignedly  love  God,"  and  the  expres- 
sion. His  "  elect  in  one  communion  and  fellowship,"  are  iden- 
tical in  meaning;  mutually  exegetical.  The  language  at 
the  close  of  the  Collect,  therefore,  is  equally  available,  with 
that  at  the  opening  and  in  the  middle,  for  the  settlement  of 
the  question  ;  who  compose  this  truly  united — this  one  holy 
Church  J  this  "  one  communion  and  fellowship  in  the  mystical 
Body  of  Christ  1"  They  are  all  those  "  blessed  saints,"  and 
only  those  who  "  unfeignedly  love  God."  Dare  any  m.an  take 
this  expression,  and  extend  it,  with  its  kindred  terms  in  the 
Collect,  into  a  description  of  the  visible  Church,  or  of  those 
exclusively,  who  are  really  holy  members  in  our  own  and 
kindred  Episcopal  communions  \  Let  him  attempt  so  strange 
an  act,  and  our  Zion  herself  shall  rise  up  from  her  knees,  from 
the  oflering  of  this,  her  truly  Catholic  prayer,  and  forbid  such 
deep  violence  on  her  words.  She  is  not  here  describing  the 
visible  Church ;  she  is  rather  teaching  us  who  compose  the 
one  holy  Communion,  the  really  united  Church  of  Christ ;  and 
is  praying  if  peradventure  those,  who  now  constitute  her  pro- 
fessed members,  may  also  be  found  included,  at  last,  in  that 
great,  that  divine  knitting  together  of  all  God's  "  elect." 

The  language  of  this  Collect,  it  is  needless  to  say,  is  based 
on  some  of  the  very  passages  in  the  Bible,  which  I  have  ex- 
pounded ;  and  contains  a  description  of  the  Church  perfectly 
identical  with  the  idea  which  it  has  been  my  purpose  to  exhi- 
bit. Had  I  explored  the  whole  English  language,  I  could  not 
have  found  terms  more  suited  to  my  purpose  than  those  here 
furnished  ;  the  precise,  luminous  teachings  of  our  Zion,  as  she 
deliberately  utters  her  mind  at  the  footstool  of  the  Throne. 

(2.)  Turn  next  to  the  prayer  at  the  close  of  our  Communion 


TESTIMONY    OF    OUR    STANDARDS.  79 

Sen'ice.  We  there  thank  God  "that  we,"  "who  have  duly- 
received  the  holy  mysteries"  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  who  are 
really  partakers  of  Christ  by  faith,  "  are  also  very  members 
incorporate  in  the  mystical  Body  of  His  Son  ;  which  is  the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people  ;  and  are  also  heirs, 
through  hope,  of  His  everlasting  kingdom  by  the  merits  of  the 
most  precious  death  and  passion  of  His  dear  Son."  To  this 
thanksgiving  we  add  a  petition  for  "  grace  to  continue  in  that 
holy  fellowship,  and  do  all  such  good  works  as  God  hath  pre- 
pared for  us  to  walk  in,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

This  passage  expresses  precisely  the  same  idea  with  the 
former,  and  to  it  the  same  remarks  may  be  applied.  Our 
Church  is  here  uttering  her  most  solemn  teachings  as  well  as 
her  most  solemn  prayers  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  she  gives  a  concise, 
but  still  luminous  definition  of  the  one  whole  and  true  Church 
of  Christ.  She  styles  it  "  the  mystical  Body  of  the  Son"  of 
God  5  and  then,  varying  her  language,  she  calls  it  "  that  holy 
fellowship."  In  this,  too,  as  in  the  former  instance,  the  Body 
described  is,  unquestionably,  a  Church.  The  phrase,  "  mys- 
tical Body  of  thy  Son,"  has  precisely  the  same  meaning  with 
that  in  which  St.  Paul  says,  that  God  gave  Christ  "to  be  Head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body."  The  term 
"  Body,"  as  a  metaphor  for  the   Church,  has  an  established 

meaning. 

Of  whom,  then,   according  to  the  teaching  of  this  prayer, 

is  the  Church  composed  \  I  answer  by  a  simple  repetition 
of  the  words  ;  "  the  mystical  Body  of  thy  Son,  which  is  the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people."  This  latter  clause 
is  a  comment,  in  the  very  form  of  a  definition,  upon  the 
former.  The  Church  here  described  is  expressly  declared  to 
consist  of  "  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people."  The 
style  of  this  language  belongs  to  the  age  in  which  our 
Prayer  Book  was  put  forth.  The  phrase,  "all  faithful  people," 
meant  then  just  what  we  now  understand  by  all  true  believers. 
A  similar  antiquity  of  style  occurs  earlier  in  the  prayer  ;  where 
those,  who  are  really  partakers  of  Christ  by  faith,  are  said  to 
be  "  very  members,  incorporate  in  his  mystical  Body."  The 
meaning  is,   "  true  members,"  true,  as   opposed   to   false,   or 


80  THE    CHUKCH   UNIVERSAL. 

merely  formal  ;  members,  not  only  by  "  the  outward  and  visi- 
ble sign,"  but  also  by  "  the  inward  and  spiritual"  signification  ; 
members  of  the  Body  of  Christ  by  the  Spirit's  ingrafting.  The 
Church  described  in  this  prayer,  then,  is  composed  of  "  all  true 
believers,"  and  only  such.  It  is  not  the  distracted,  but  "  the 
blessed  company"  of  all  the  "  very  members  of  Christ's  mys- 
tical Body."  Now,  then,  who  constitute  this  "Blessed  Com- 
pany," this  "  Holy  Fellowship!"  Remember;  our  Church, 
when  she  uses  this  language,  has  gone  down  upon  her  knees, 
before  the  visible  symbols  of  the  bloody  passion  of  Him,  who 
came  into  our  world  to  "  taste  death  for  every  man."  She 
has  gone  down  upon  her  knees  before  the  consecrated  memo- 
rials of  Gethsemane's  bloody  sweat  and  of  Calvary's  bloodier 
cross  ;  and  she  has  gone  down  there  to  thank  God  for  a  Savior 
to  penitent  and  believing  sinners !  Remember  this  ;  and  then 
tell  me,  has  she  gone  down  to  that  soul-humbling  posture,  and 
placed  herself  amidst  those  heart-melting  associations,  to  bless 
God  for  salvation  through  the  Episcopacy  alone,  or  to  define 
the  visible  Church,  as  limited  to  those,  who  enjoy  even  such 
rich  blessings  as  an  Episcopal  ministry  and  sacraments  1  To 
suppose  this,  were  to  place  her  under  heavy  degradation  ;  and 
she  would  ao-ain  rise  up  from  her  knees  before  the  sacrament 
of  her  crucified  Lord,  and  nobly  cast  the  reproach  away  from 
her.  She  would  say :  "  I  took  that  lowly  posture,  and  sur- 
rounded mj^self  with  those  touching  remembrancers,  the  better 
to  realize  my  share  in  the  mercies  of  Him,  who  "  died,  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  that  He  might  bring  them  to  God ;"  the  better 
to  realize  my  fellowship  with  patriarchs  and  prophets,  with 
apostles  and  martyrs,  and  with  all  the  noble  company  of  saints 
in  every  age,  from  the  morning  to  the  eve  of  time  ;  the  better 
to  realize  my  own  privileges  in  having  contributed  many  from 
among  my  own  children  to  that  "  blessed  company  of  all  faith- 
ful people  ;"  the  better  to  realize  a  fitting  sympathy  with  my 
once  suffering  but  now  rejoicing  Lord  in  every  "  broken 
spirit,"  and  in  every  "  contrite  heart,"  that  comes  to  Him  from 
this  poor,  dying  world,  for  pardon,  peace  and  life  ;  the  better 
to  mingle  my  tuneful  song  with  that  of  the  redeemed  of  all 
lands  and  of  every  name,  "  that  holy  fellowship"  of  the  saved, 


TESTIMONY   OF   OUR    STANDARDS.  81 

whom  Jesus  is  gathering  out  of  time,  and  preparing  to  glorify 
in  eternity.  It  was  for  this  that  I  knelt  there,  as  if  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  as  if  amid  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  "  the 
Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  I  Avas  seeking 
to  identify  myself  with  the  great  "  mystical  Body  of  Christ," 
my  living  Head  ;  that  Body  in  which  there  are  no  dead  mem- 
bers ;  the  one  part  of  which  is  already  joined  with  Him  in 
heaven,  while  the  other  yet  walketh  with  his  purifying  Spirit 
upon  earth. 

Such  is  the  posture,  and  such  the  teaching  of  our  Church  in 
this  most  Catholic,  this  most  teaching  prayer ;  and  thus  does 
she  define  the  one,  unbroken  and  holy  Church  of  her  divine 
Head.  I  delight  to  see  her  in  such  an  attitude,  and  to  hear  her 
utter  such  a  teaching.  I  delight  to  see  her  thus  lowly,  thus 
thrilled  with  her  divine  theme,  thus  covering  herself,  not  with 
the  apostolic  robes  of  her  most  venerable  Episcopacy,  but  with 
that  one  and  ampler  robe  of  salvation  through  the  Crucified, 
which  is  thrown  over  the  whole  of  His  one  "mystical  Body;" 
which  adorns  "  the  Bride,  the  Lamb's  wife  ;"  v/hich  clothes  the 
sacred  family  living  with  Him  in  holy  union  and  concord, 
from  the  first  saint  that  believed,  to  the  last  believer  that  shall 
be  saved. 

Such  language  as  that,  which  has  now  been  examined,  from 
two  of  the  most  expressive  forms  of  the  Church,  cannot  be 
considered  as  describing  either  the  Visible  Church,  or  the 
Church  as  limited  by  the  Episcopacy;  because  the  Visible 
Church  contains  a  vast  multitude  of  unconverted,  and  even  of 
most  ungodly  members  ;  while  the  Church,  as  limited  by  the 
Episcopacy,  does  not  contain  all  the  true  saints,  all  the  really 
holy,  whom  Christ  has  gathered  out  of  mankind  and  into  Him- 
self. It  is  language,  fitted  for  nothing  else  in  the  world  but  a 
faithful  and  exact  description  of  that  Spiritual  Church,  which 
consists  of  none  but  true  believers,  and  which  comprises  all 
the  true  believers,  who  ever  have  lived,  or  ever  shall  live. 

3.  I  have   already  said,  that  the  language  of  the   Creed, 

where  we  profess  to  believe  in  "  The  holy  Catholic  Church, 

the  Communion  of  Saints,"  is,  by  excellent  divines,  regarded 

as  describing  the  Church,  under  the  very  idea  of  it,  which  I 

6 


82  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

have  presented.  The  same  idea  evidently  occurs  both  in  the 
Litany,  and  in  the  Te  Deum  ;  both  which,  like  the  Creed,  are 
among  the  most  ancient  and  accredited  of  Christian  composi- 
tions. They  breathe  the  true  spirit  of  early  devotion ;  and 
savor  strongly  of  an  age,  when  Christian  fellowship,  in  its 
generous  grasp,  embraced  all  who  truly  "  held  the  Head," 
Christ.  Thus,  in  the  Litany,  we  pray  God  "  to  rule  and 
govern  His  holy  Church  universal  in  the  right  way  ;"  and 
"to  give  to  all  His  people  increase  of  grace  to  hear  meekly 
His  Word,  to  receive  it  with  pure  affection,  and  to  bring  forth 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit."  Thus,  too,  in  the  Te  Deum,  we  hear 
of  "  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  Prophets  ;"  "  The  glorious 
company  of  the  Apostles  ;"  "  the  noble  army  of  iMartyrs  ;" 
and  finally,  (as  inclusive  of  the  whole  blessed  fellowship  of 
the  saints)  "  The  holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world,"  in 
all  its  revolving  ages.  "  When  Thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharp- 
ness of  death.  Thou  didst  open  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  to  all 
believers."  "  We  therefore  pray  Thee,  help  thy  servants, 
whom  Thou  hast  redeemed  with  thy  precious  blood."  "  Make 
them  to  be  numbered  with  thy  Saints  in  glory  everlasting." 
"  0  Lord,  save  thy  people,  and  bless  thine  heritage."  Here 
is  language  fitting  the  mouths  of  those  who  worship  Christ. 
Here  is  a  copious  multiplication  of  terms,  for  the  expression 
of  one  single  idea  ;  "  all  true  believers  ;"  "  Thy  servants ;" 
"  Thy  saints  ;"  "  Thy  people  ;"  "  Thine  heritage  5"  terms 
which  refuse  any  limit  on  their  meaning,  short  of  that,  which 
bounds  the  fruit  of  Christ's  bloodily  redeeming  sufferings  and 
death  ;  and  all  ranged  under  the  one  broadly  comprehending 
phrase  ;  "  The  holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world." 

Much  time  might  be  spent  in  amplifying  these  glowingly 
concentrated  expressions,  in  tracing  them  up  to  their  origin  in 
the  Bible,  and  in  illustrating  their  Christ-like  Catholicism  of 
comprehension.  But,  I  have  not  space  to  pursue  the  pleasing 
theme.  I  can  merely  recall  the  thought,  that,  thus  far,  I  have 
been  citing  from  the  devotional  standards  of  our  Church. — 
You  have  been  catching  the  utterances  of  her  mind,  while 
bowing  in  worship  amidst  the  hosts  of  the  redeemed  at  the 
feet  of  the  Redeemer  ;  and  while  erect  in  praises,  amidst  the 


TESTIMONY    OF    OUR    STANDARDS.  83 

whole  band  of  those,  who  shout,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
was  shiin"  and  "  hath  redeemed  us  to  God  by  His  blood,  out 
of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation  j  and 
hath  made  us  unto  God  kings  and  priests  ;  and  we  shall  reign 
on  the  earth."  You  have  been  listening  to  Her,  therefore,  in 
acts,  which  lift  her  above  all  but  the  loftiest  and  broadest 
conceptions,  and  which  place  her  right  by  the  side  of  Christ, 
as  He  looks,  with  divine  satisfaction  over  the  whole  fruit  of 
His  sufferings,  over  the  whole  "  travail  of  His  soul."  In  her 
worship,  she  is  not  controversial,  but  Christian  ;  on  her  knees, 
she  defines  Christ's  Church  as  it  lives  in  Christ's  heart,  and  not 
as  it  is  ranged  within  visible  lines. 

The  testimony  of  the  standard  writers  of  our  Protestant  Re- 
formation must  be  reserved  for  my  next  Discourse. 


DISCOURSE  Y. 


''  Head  over  all  things  to  the  Church :  which  is  His  Body,  the  fulness  of  Him 
that  filleth  all  ia  all." — Ephesians  i ;  22.  23. 


The  question,  whether  this  passage  refers  to  the  Church,  as 
a  body  under  visible  organization,  with  officers  and  form  of 
government ;  or  to  the  Church,  as  a  body,  whose  organization 
is  spiritual  only,  consisting  in  the  inward  union  of  the  members 
with  their  Head  by  faith,  has  already  been  considered.  It  will 
not,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  enter  into  the  inquiry  at  the 
present  time.  I  will  merely  remark,  that  we  have  seen  reason 
to  regard  the  Church,  here  described,  as  identical  with  what 
our  Communion  service  denominates,  that  "3l3-stical  Body  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people;" 
of  all,  who  truly  believe  in  Christ.  This  idea  of  the  Church 
we  found,  in  our  last  discourse,  imbodied  in  several  parts  of 
our  devotional  standards  ;  those  venerable  forms  of  worship, 
in  which  our  Church  utters  her  mind,  at  the  foot  of  the  Throne, 
not  as  a  controvertist,  but  as  a  portion  of  that  great  band  of 
worshippers,  who  present  their  offerings  of  prayer  and  praise 
to  one  common  Father,  by  faith  in  the  one  Savior  of  them 
ALL.  "What  I  have  proposed  for  the  present  discourse,  is,  to 
make  a  few  citations  from  the  standard  writers  of  our  own 
Protestant  Reformation,  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  that, 
theologically,  as  well  as  devotionally,  the  idea  of  the  Church, 
which  I  have  presented,  has  the  highest  of  human  sanction. 

These  standard  writers  of  our  Church  flourished  chiefly  in 
two  great  ages  ;  that  of  the  Reformation  itself,  and  that  of  the 


86  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

seventeenth  Century.  The  former,  in  the  sixteenth,  was  an  age 
of  much  controversy,  but  of  more  action.  Principles  were  then 
asserted  and  defended  ;  but  the  main  labor  of  the  period  lay  in 
building  up  the  Reformed  Church  on  the  basis  of  those  prin- 
ciples ;  and,  with  blood,  cementing  it  in  the  true  faith  of 
Christ.  The  latter,  in  the  seventeenth  Century,  may  be  distin- 
guished as  an  age  of  much  action,  but  of  more  controversy. 
The  "  good  fight  of  faith,"  with  all  its  blood  and  fires,  was 
ended ;  and  the  race  of  those  gigantically  great  men  of  the 
English  Reformation,  subsequently  raised  up,  came  forth  upon 
a  comparatively  quiet  field,  to  demonstrate,  from  the  Word 
of  God,  the  truth  of  those  principles,  which  the  preceding  age 
had  laid  in  the  foundation  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

Upon  the  main  points,  which,  in  these  discourses,  I  have 
endeavored  to  establish,  the  distinction  between  the  Spiritual 
and  the  Visible  Church,  and  the  superior  title  of  the  former 
to  the  name  of  the  Church,  the  writers  of  both  those  ages 
were  distinct  and  full. 

1.  In  his  catechism,  the  great  martyr,  Archbishop  Cranmer, 
whose  blood  watered  the  Church  of  the  English  Reformation, 
in  explaining  "  the  Apostle's  Creed,"  speaks  thus  :  "  I  believe 
the  holy  Catholic  Church,  that  is  to  say,  that  there  is  ever 
found  some  company  of  men,  or  some  congregation  of  good 
people,  which  believe  the  gospel  and  are  saved.*  *  *  For,  this 
word.  Church,  signifieth  a  company  of  men,  lightened  with  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  which  do  receive  the  Gospel.*  *  And  this 
Christian  Church  is  a  Communion  of  saints  ;  that  is  to  say — 
all  that  be  of  this  communion,  or  company,  be  holy,  and  be 
one  holy  Body  under  Christ  their  Head.  And  this  congrega- 
tion receiveth,  of  their  Head  and  Lord,  all  spiritual  riches  and 
gifts,  that  pertain  to  the  sanctification  and  making  holy  of  the 
same  Body.  And  these  ghostly  treasures,"  or  spiritual  gifts, 
"  be  common  to  the  whole  Body  and  to  every  member  of  the 
same."* 

Again:  "The  holy  Church  is  so  unknown  to  the  world  that 
no  man  can  describe  it;  but  God  alone,  who  searcheth  the 
hearts  of  all  men,  and  knoweth  his  true  children  from  others." 

*  Catechism  of  1548. 


STANDARD  WRITERS  :    ABP.  CRANMER  :    BP.  RIDLEY.  87 

"  This  Church  is  "  the  pillar  of  the  truth,"  because  it  resteth 
on  God's  Word  j" — "  but,  as  for  the  open,  known  Church,  and 
the  outward  face  thereof,  it  is  not  the  pillar  of  the  truth,  other- 
wise than  it  is,  as  it  were,  a  register,  or  a  treasury  to  keep  the 
books  of  God's  holy  will  and  testament,  and  to  rest  only 
thereupon."* 

In  these  passages,  bear  in  mind,  the  martyr  is  interpreting 
the  language  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  highest,  most  author- 
itative standard  of  our  Church.  How,  then,  does  he  define 
"  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  the  Communion  of  saints," 
which  we  there  profess  to  believe  1  Precisely  as  I  have  de- 
fined the  one  true  Church  of  Christ,  as  the  company  of  those 
who  "  are  saved  ;"  that  Body  of  which  Christ  is  Head ;  and 
"  every  member"  of  which  is  a  partaker  of  those  "  ghostly 
treasures,"  which  are  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  This  Church  he 
carefully  distinguishes  from  the  visible,  or,  as  he  calls  it,  "  the 
open,  known  Church  ;"  declaring  the  former  to  be,  and  the 
latter  not  to  be,  "  the  pillar  of  the  truth."  This,  then,  the 
great  company  of  the  saved,  of  those  who  believe  in  Christ, 
and  are  made  holy,  is  the  Church,  which  Cranmer  finds  in  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  all  Christian 
symbols. 

2.  His  brother  martyr,  the  accomplished  Bishop  Kidley,  of 
London,  is  in  full  concord  with  him  on  this  point. 

"  The  name,  Church,"  says  he,  "  is  taken  in  Scripture, 
sometimes,  for  the  whole  multitude  of  them,  which  profess  the 
name  of  Christ  j  of  the  which  they  are  also  named  Christians. 
But,  as  St.  Paul  saith  of  the  Jew — "  He  is  not  a  Jew,  who  is 
one  outwardly;  neither  yet,  all  that  be  of  Israel  are  counted 
of  the  seed  ;"  even  so,  not  every  one  which  is  a  Christian 
outwardly,  is  a  Christian  indeed.  For,  "  If  any  man  have  not 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  same  is  none  of  His."  Therefore,  that 
Church,  which  is  His  Body,  of  whom  Christ  is  the  Head, 
standeth  only  of  living  stones,  and  true  Christians,  not  only 
outwardly  in  name  and  title,  but  inwardly  in  heart  and  in 
truth."! 

*  Answer  to  Dr.  Smith.  f  Ridley's  Works. 


88  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

Here  is  the  same  distinction,  as  in  the  former  case,  between 
the  outward  and  the  inward,  between  the  visible  and  the  spir- 
itual Church  ;  while  the  latter  is  expressly  said  to  be  "  that 
Church,which  is  His  Body,  of  which  Christ  is  Head,  and  which 
standeth  only  of  living  stones,  and  true  Christians ;"  or  hath 
nothing  in  it  but  members,  who  are  joined  to  Christ  by  a  vital- 
izing and  saving  faith. 

More  to  the  same  effect  might  be  cited  ;  but  I  must  pass 
from  this  first,  to  what  may  be  termed  the  second  age  of  the 
Keformation. 

3.  Among  the  earliest  of  the  writers  of  this  prolific  period, 
stands  Richard  Hooker,  a  name  in  every  Churchman's  mouth ; 
as  humble  and  holy  as  he  was  learned  and  wise. 

Writing  in  his  great  work,  the  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  with 
the  express  purpose  of  distinguishing  the  invisible  from  the 
visible  Church,  he  says  :  "  The  Church  of  Christ,  which  we 
properly  term  His  Body  mystical,  can  be  but  one,  neither  can 
that  one  be  sensibly  discerned  by  any  man,  inasmuch  as  the 
parts  thereof  are  some  in  heaven  already  with  Christ ;  and  the 
rest  that  are  on  earth,  albeit  their  natural  persons  be  visible, 
we  do  not  discern  under  this  property,  whereby  they  are  truly 
and  infallibly  of  that  body.  Only  our  minds,  by  intellectual 
conceit,  are  able  to  apprehend  that  such  a  real  body  there  is ; 
a  body  collective,  because  it  containeth  a  huge  multitude  j  a 
body  mystical,  because  the  mystery  of  their  conjunction  is 
removed  altogether  from  sense."  And  now,  mark  what  he 
says  of  this  true  "  Church  of  Christ."  "  Whatsoever  we  read 
in  Scripture,  concerning  the  endless  love,  and  saving  mercy, 
■which  God  sheweth  towards  his  Church,  the  only  proper  sub- 
ject thereof  is  this  Church  ;"  that  is — this  "  Body  mystical," 
"part  whereof  is  already  in  heaven  with  Christ,"  while  the 
other  part  is  still  "  on  earth,"  being  "  truly  and  infallibly  of  that 
Body,"  though  "  the  mystery  of  their  conjunction"  with  Christ 
"  is  removed  altogether  from  sense."  "  Concerning  this  flock 
it  is"  adds  he,  "  that  our  Lord  and  Savior  hath  promised,  '  I 
give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall  never  perish,  nei- 
ther shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my  hands.'  " 

To  this  "  mystical  Church"  he  says,  "  belong  the  everlasting 


HOOKER  :    PERKINS.  89 

promises  of  love,  mercy  and  blessedness."  "  Unto  that  Church, 
which  is  His  mystical  Body,"  it  is  "  not  possible"  that  wicked, 
or  merely  formal  members  "  should  belong;"  "because  that 
Body  consisteth  of  none  but  only  true  Israelites,  true  sons  of 
Abraham,  true  servants  and  saints  of  God."* 

Again,  in  his  first  sermon  on  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  he  says  : — 
"  The  multitude  of  them,  which  truly  believe,  howsoever  they 
be  dispersed  far  and  wide,  each  from  other,  is  all  one  Body, 
whereof  the  Head  is  Christ;  one  building,  whereof  He  is  Corner 
Stone  ;  in  Avhom  they,  as  the  members  of  the  Body,  being  knit, 
and,  as  the  stones  of  the  building,  being  coupled,  grow  up  to 
a  man  of  perfect  stature,  and  rise  to  an  holy  temple  in  the 
Lord.  That  which  linketh  Christ  to  us,  is,  His  mere  love  and 
mercy  towards  us.  That  which  tieth  us  to  Him,  is,  our  faith 
in  the  promised  salvation  revealed  in  the  Word  of  truth. 
That,  which  uniteth  and  joineth  us  among  ourselves,  in  such 
sort  that  we  are  now  as  if  we  had  but  one  heart  and  one  soul, 
is,  our  love."t 

To  these  and  the  like  beautiful  conceptions,  and  just  deline- 
ations of  the  true  mystical  Church  of  Christ,  in  Avhich  Hooker 
abounds,  I  add  nothing,  except  to  say,  that  every  word  falls  in, 
in  perfect  accord,  with  the  view,  which  I  have  already  so  largely 
illustrated  from  the  Bible  and  from  our  devotional  standards. 
Hooker,  one  of  the  greatest  Biblical  divines  of  England, 
unquestionably  taught  this  view  of  the  one,  true,  holy  and 
Catholic  Church  of  Christ. 

4.  Perkins,  also,  another  of  that  great  army  of  our  reformed 
divines,  speaks  thus  :  "This  union  to  Christ,  maketh  the  Church 
to  be  the  Church  ;  and  by  it,  the  members  thereof,  whether 
they  be  in  heaven,  or  in  earth,  are  distinguished  from  all  other 
companies  whatsoever."^ 

He  calls  "the  Catholic  Church  militant,"  "  The  number  of 
believers  dispersed  through  the  world,  who  are  efTectually 
called,  and  sanctified  and  preserved  unto  life  everlasting." 
Speaking  of  "  two  sorts  of  men,  professing  religion,"  one  of 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  Book  iii.,  §  1.  p.  2C9— 272.    London  1S25. 
t  First  Sermon  on  St.  Jude,  §  1] . 
J  Perkins'  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  277. 


90  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

whom  "  do  unfeignedly  believe  and  are  sanctified,"  while  the 
other  only  "  make  show  of  faith,  but  believe  not ;"  he  says : — 
"  Of  the  former  doth  the  Catholic  Church  consist,  and  not  of 
the  latter;"  these  "  are  no  members  set  into  the  Head  of  this 
Body,  though  they  may  seem  to  be."  "  This  Catholic  Church 
is  invisible,  and  cannot,  by  the  eye  of  sense,  be  discerned." 
It  "  cannot  utterly  perish  and  be  dissolved.  All  other  congre- 
gations and  particular  Churches,  being  mixed,  may  fail  ,•  yet 
this  cannot  be  overcome."  "  To  this  assembly,  and  no  other, 
belong  all  the  promises  of  this  life  and  the  life  to  come.  It  is 
the  ground  and  pillar  of  truth  ;  that  is,  the  doctrine  of  true 
religion  is  always  safely  kept  and  maintained  in  it."* 

5.  While  these  passages  clearly  develop  the  idea  of  the 
Church,  as  I  have  presented  it,  and  shew  that,  to  this  Church 
alone  the  promises  are  made,  and  in  it  alone  the  true  indefect- 
ibility  is  found  ;  the  following,  from  Bishop  Hall,  shews  that 
in  the  same  Church  resides  the  divine  unity,  on  which  Christ 
so  earnestly  insists.  "  If,"  says  he,  in  his  sermon  on  the 
Beauty  and  Unity  of  the  Church,  "  from  particular  visible 
Churches,  you  shall  turn  your  eyes  to  the  true,  inward,  uni- 
versal company  of  God's  elect  and  secret  ones,  there  shall  you 
see  more  perfectly  the  one  Dove  ;  for,  what  the  other  is  in 
profession,  this  is  in  truth;  that  one  baptism  is  here  the  true 
laver  of  regeneration  ;  that  one  faith  is  a  saving  reposal  upon 
Christ ;  that  one  Lord  is  '  the  Savior  of  His  Body.'  No  natu- 
ral body  is  more  one  than  this  mystical  ;  one  Head  rules  it ; 
one  Spirit  animates  it;  one  set  of  joints  moves  it ;  one  food 
nourishes  it ;  one  robe  covers  it.  So  it  is  one  in  itself,  so  one 
with  Christ,  as  Christ  is  one  with  the  Father."! 

"  The  whole  Church,"  says  he,  '"  is  the  spiritual  Temple  of 
God.  Every  believer  is  a  living  stone  laid  in  those  sacred 
walls.  There  is  no  place  for  any  loose  stone  in  God's  edi§ce  ; 
the  whole  Church  is  one  entire  Body. "J  '^•' 

6.  Bishop  Taylor,  also,  that  perhaps  richest  of  Christian 
orators,  is  full  of  the  doctrine  which  I  have  unfolded.     In  his, 

*  Perkins'  Works,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  4S2,  504. 

t  Sermon  on  Beauty  and  Unity  of  the  Church. 

X  Treatise  of  Christ  Mystical,  chapter  viii.,  §  2. 


BISHOP    HALL  :    BISHOP    TAYLOR.  91 

Dissuasive   from   Popery,  he   thus  writes :    "  They,  who  are 
indeed  holy  and  obedient  to  Christ's  laws  of  faith  and  manners, 
these  are  truly  and  perfectly  the   Church  ;"  "  the  Church  of 
God  in  the  eyes  and  heart  of  God.     For  the  Church  of  God 
are  the  Body  of  Christ ;  but  the  mere  profession  of  Christian- 
ity makes  no  man   a   member  of  Christ ;  nothing  but  a  new 
creature,  nothing  but  a  '  faith  working  by  love  ;'  and  keeping 
the  commandments  of  God."     "  Hypocrites  are  not  Christ's 
servants,  and  therefore  not  Christ's  members,  and  therefore  no 
part  of  the  Church  of  God  ;  but  improperly  and  equivocally, 
as  a  dead  man  is  a  man  j  all  which  is  perfectly  summed  up  in 
these  words  of  St.  Augustine,  saying  that  "  The  Body  of  Christ 
is  not  (bipariitum,  it  is  not)  a  double  Body,  all  that  are  Christ's 
Body  shall  reign  with  Christ  forever."     "  If  by  a  Church  we 
mean  that  society,  which  is  really  joined  to  Christ  j  which  hath 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  5  which  is  heir  of  the  promises  and  of 
the  good  things  of  God;  which  is  the  Body  of  which  Christ  is 
the  Head  ;  then  the  invisible  part  of  the  visible  Church — that 
is,  the  true  servants  of  Christ  are  the  Church  ;  that  is,  to  them 
only  appertain  the  Spirit  and  the  truth,  the  promises  and  the 
graces,  the  privileges  and  advantages  of  the  Gospel."     "  The 
faithful  only  and  obedient  are  beloved  of  God.     Others  may 
believe  rightly,"  (in  speculation,)   "  but  so  do  the  devils,  who 
are  no  parts  of  the  Church  ;"  "  and  it  will  be  a  strange  proposi- 
tion, which  affirms  any  one  to  be  of  the  Church,  for  no  other 
reason  but  such  as  qualifies  the  Devil  to  be  so."    "  Those  who 
are  condemned  by  Christ,"  (continues  St.  Augustine,)  "  for  their 
evil  and  polluted  consciences,  are  not  in  Christ's  Body,  which 
is  the  Church,  for  Christ  hath  no  damned  members."  "  Although 
when  we  speak  of  all  the  acts  and  duties,  of  the  judgments  and 
nomenclatures,  of  outward  appearances  and  accounts  of  law, 
we  call  the  mixed  society  by  the  name  of  the  Church  ;  yet, 
when  we  consider  it  in  the  true,  proper,  and  primary  meaning, 
all  the  promises  of  God,  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  life  of  God,  and 
all  the  good  things  of  God  are  peculiar  to  the  Church  of  God 
in  God's  sense,  in  the  way  in  which  he  owns  it ,  that  is,  as  it 
is  holy,  united  unto  Christ,  like  to  Him,  and  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature.     The  other  are  but  a  heap  of  men  keeping  good 


92  THE    CHURCH    UNH'ERSAL. 

company,  and  calling  themselves  by  a  good  name,  managing 
the  external  parts  of  union  and  ministry  ;  but,  because  they 
otherwise  belong  not  to  God,  the  promises  no  otherwise  belong 
to  them,  but  as  they  may,  and  when  they  do,  return  to  God. 
Here,  then  are  two  senses  of  the  word,  Church ;  God's  sense, 
and  man's  sense  j  the  sense  of  religion,  and  the  sense  of  gov- 
ernment ;  common  rites,  and  spiritual  union."* 

Much  more  to  the  same  effect,  might  be  cited  from  this  exu- 
berant author ;  but  I  hasten  to  draw  a  little  from,  other  stores. 

7.  Archbishop  Usher,  one  of  the  greatest  lights  of  his  age, 
in  his  Body  of  divinity,  puts  this  question  :  "  What  is  meant" 
(in  the  Creed)  "by  the  Catholic  Church  1"  and  then  answers; 
"  That  whole,  universal  company  of  the  elect,  that  ever  were, 
are,  or  shall  be,  gathered  together  in  one  body,  knit  together 
in  one  faith,  under  one  Head,  Jesus  Christ.  For  God,  in  all 
places,  and  of  all  sorts  of  men,  had  from  the  beginning,  hath 
now,  and  ever  will  have,  an  holy  Church,  which  is  therefore 
called  "  the  Catholic  Church  ;"  that  is,  God's  whole,  or  uni- 
versal assembly,  because  it  comprehendeth  the  multitude  of  all 
those  that  have,  do,  or  shall  believe  unto  the  world's  end." 

Again,  in  the  same  work,  he  asks ;  "  Who  are  the  true 
members  of  the  Church  militant  on  earth  1"  and  answers ; 
"Those  alone,  who,  as  living  members  of  the  mystical  Body, 
are,  b}'-  the  Spirit  and  faith,  secretly  and  inseparably  conjoined 
unto  Christ,  their  Head;  in  which  respect,  the  true  militant 
Church  is  both  invincible  and  invisible."! 

"  The  Communion  of  Saints,"  he  says,  in  his  Sermon  be- 
fore the  House  of  Commons,  "  consists  in  the  union,  Avhich  we 
all  have  with  one  Head.  For  Christ,  our  Head,  is  the  main 
foundation  of  this  heavenly  union. "J 

It  is  needless  to  point  out  the  exact  coincidence  of  all  this 
with  what  has  been  advanced  in  my  previous  discourses. 
Usher  belongs  to  that  grand  Protestant  host,  who  make  the 
true  Church  to  consist  of  every  true  believer,  who  is  gathered 
into  Christ  and  saved,  from  the  beginning  to  the  End  of  Time. 

*  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  Pari  ii.,  B.  I.,  Sect,  i.,  §§  i.  and  ii. 

t  Bod.  Div.  1S7,1S9. 

±  Sermon  before  the  House  of  Commons. 


usher:  JACKSON :  bakrow.  93 

8.  Jackson  also,  eminent  among  the  eminent,  must  be  cited 
as  belonging  to  the  same  ranks.  Speaking  in  his  celebrated 
Treatise  of  the  Church,  "  which  is  truly  holy  and  Catholic," 
He  says:  "  This  Church  is  a  true  and  real  body,  consisting  of 
many  parts,  all  really,  though  mystically  and  spirituall}''  united 
unto  one  Head;  and,  by  their  real  union  with  one  Head,  are 
all  truly  and  really  united  amongst  themselves."  "  That  this 
Church  is  a  true  Body,  the  Apostle" — hath  left  registered  ; 
"  I  rejoice  in  my  sufferings  for  you,  and  fill  up  that  which  is 
behind  of  the  affliction  of  Christ  in  my  flesh,  for  His  Body's 
sake,  which  is  the  Church."  "  Every  one,  then,  is  so  far,  a 
member  of  Christ's  Church  as  he  is  a  member  of  Christ's  Body. 
He  that  is  not,  in  some  sort,  a  member  of  Christ's  Body,  can 
be,  in  no  sort,  a  member  of  His  Church.  He  that  is  a  true, 
live  member  of  the  One,  is  a  true  live  member  of  the  other. 
He  that  is  but  an  equivocal,  analogical,  hypocritical,  or  painted 
member  of  the  one,  is  but  an  equivocal,  analogical,  hypocriti» 
cal,  or  painted  member  of  the  other."* 

Arguing  in  the  same  work,  from  a  passage  in  Ephesians 
■which  I  have  already  explained,  he  writes  ;  "  Every  member 
of  the  Church  or  of  Christ's  Body  is  more  near,  or  dear  unto 
Him  than  our  flesh  is  unto  us;  and  more  His  own  than  our 
flesh  is  ours."f 

Again,  uttering  himself  in  a  strict  definition,  he  says  : 
"  The  Catholic  Chnrch,  in  the  prime  sense,  consists  only  of 
such  as  are  actual  and  indissoluble  members  of  Christ's  mysti- 
cal Body  ;  or,  of  such  as  have  the  Catholic  faith  not  only 
sown  in  their  brains,  or  understanding,  but  thoroughly  rooted 
in  their  hearts."J 

9.  With  this  definition  perfectly  agrees  that  of  the  great 
Dr.  Barrow,  the  champion  of  the  Church  of  England  against 
the  Papal  Supremacy.  In  his  discourse  on  the  Unity  of  the 
Church,  he  sa3'-s ;  the  Invisible  Church  is  "The  whole  body 
of  God's  people,  that  is,  ever  hath  been,  or  ever  shall  be,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  consummation  thereof,  who, 

*  Treatise  on  the  Holy  Caiholic  Faith  and  Church,  pp.  18,  19.    Phi!.  1S44. 
t  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  21. 
:}:  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  152. 


94  THE    CHUKCH    UNIVERSAL. 

having  believed  in  Christ,  and  sincerely  obeyed  God's  laws, 
shall  finally,  by  the  meritorious  performances  and  sufferings  of 
Christ,  be  saved."* 

"  To  this  Invisible  Church,  composed  only  of  such  as  shall 
finally  be  saved,  belong,"  he  says,  "all  the  glorious  titles  and 
excellent  privileges  attributed  to  the  Church  in  holy  Scripture. 
This  is  'the  Body  of  Christ  j'  'the  Spouse  of  Christ;'  'the 
House  of  God  built  on  a  Rock,  against  which  the  gates  of  Hell 
shall  not  prevail;'  'the  elect  generation.'"  "This  is  that 
one  Body,  into  which  we  are  all  baptized  by  one  Spirit ;  the 
members  whereof  do  hold  a  mutual  sympathy  and  compla- 
cence ;  which  is  joined  to  one  Head,  deriving  sense  and  m.o- 
tion  from  it ;  which  is  enlivened  and  moved  by  one  Spirit." 
"  To  this  Church  belongs  peculiarly  that  unity,  which  is  so 
often  attributed  to  the  Church."  "  This  is  the  Society,  for 
whom  Christ  did  pray  that  they  all  might  be  one."t 

"All  Christians  are  united  by  spiritual  cognation  and  alli- 
ance, as  being  all  regenerated  by  the  same  incorruptible  seed ; 
being  alike  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God  ;  whence,  as  the  Sons  of  God 
and  brethren  of  Christ,  they  become  brethren  one  to  another." 
"  The  whole  Christian  Church  is  one  by  its  incorporation  into 
the  mystical  Body  of  Christ,  or  as  fellow-subjects  of  that 
spiritual,  heavenly  kingdom,  whereof  Christ  is  the  sovereign 
Head  and  Governor ;  whence  they  are  governed  by  the  same 
laws,  obliged  by  the  same  institutions  and  functions,  partake 
of  the  same  privileges,  are  entitled  to  the  same  promises,  and 
encouraged  by  the  same  rewards.  So  they  make  but  one 
spiritual  Corporation,  or  Republic,  whereof  Christ  is  the 
Sovereign  Lord. "J 

10.  And  finally,  without  further  addition  to  this  catalogue 
of  witnesses;  "the  Incomparable  pen"  of  Bishop  Sanderson 
gives  this,  as  the  first  and  most  important  of  four  senses,  in 
which  the  word.  Church,  is  used  :  "  The  whole  company  of 
God's  elect,  actually  made  members  of  Christ  by  virtue  of  an 

*  Discourse  on  Unity  of  the  Church. 

■f  Oxford  edition  of  his  Works,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  497 — 499. 

%  Ibid.  p.  597. 


BP.  SANDERSON  !   TJIUE  USE  OF  THESE  WITNESSES,  95 

inward  efTectual  calling  to  faith  and  godliness.  This  we 
commonly  call  the  Invisible  Church,  or  the  Church  of  God's 
elect."* 

You  have  now  looked  at  a  few  of  the  many  citations,  which 
might  be  made  from  that  noble  host  of  great  Christians  and 
great  divines,  who  adorned  the  two  principal  periods  of  our 
English  Protestant  Keformation.  I  have  not  thought  best  to 
interrupt  the  chain  by  prolonged  comments  of  my  own  ;  I  leave 
them  simply  as  they  stand,  to  tell  their  own  story,  and  to  give 
in  their  own  witness.  They  touch,  sustainingly,  every  point, 
which  I  have  made  in  my  argument ;  and,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  show  that  the  ages,  to  which  they  belong,  were  exceedingly 
familiar  with  the  views,  which  they  exhibit ;  and  that  they 
were  considered  as  presenting  cardinal  points  in  the  pure  Pro- 
testant faith,  which  was  then  established  and  defended  as  well 
with  the  blood  of  saints,  as  with  the  pen  of  knowledge.  The 
seventeenth  Century,  doubtless,  witnessed  the  maintenance  of 
opposite  opinions  in  England  ;  but,  they  were  mostly  the  opin- 
ions of  what  have  been  termed  the  "  Non-jurors ;"  a  name  given 
to  those  who  were  adherents  of  the  deposed,  because  Romanizing 
James  II.,  and  who  could  not  honestly  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  his  Protestant  successors,  William  and  Maryj  opinions, 
therefore,  suspected  in  their  very  source,  and  weighing  nothing, 
with  true  Protestant  minds,  against  those  of  Cranmer  and 
Ridley,  of  Hooker  and  Perkins,  of  Hall  and  Taylor,  of  Usher 
and  Jackson,  of  Barrow  and  Sanderson  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the 
multitude  of  others,  true  and  loyal  children  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, who  marched  by  their  side,  or  followed  in  their  train. 

Let  me  not,  however,  be  misunderstood  in  the  citations 
■which  I  have  made.  It  is,  indeed,  pleasant  to  find  oneself  in 
company  which  he  likes.  But,  the  true  Christian  teacher, 
provided  he  be  sure  of  having  Christ  and  His  Word  on  his  side, 
might  well  be  content  to  march  alone,  with  innumerable  hosts 
of  combatants  arrayed  against  him.  I  have  made  the  foregoing 
citations,  not  because  they  are  the  infallible  authorities,  on 
which  the  argument  for  the  true  Church   is  founded,  but,  be- 

*  Discourse  concernina;  the  visibility  of  the  true  Church.    Hooker's  Collection, 
p.  213.    Phil.  1844. 


% 


96  THE  CHURCH  univ|:rsal. 

cause  they  are  trusty  and  credible  witnesses  to  show  that  this 
argument  is  no  novelty  ;  that  I  have  not  been  broaching  new 
and  rash  speculations  of  my  own  ;  but  that  I  have  been  moving 
in  the  track  of  some  of  the  soundest  and  holiest  minds  of  one 
of  the  soundest  and  purest  Churches  of  Christendom.  There 
are  those,  who  make  Tradition  a  sort  of  infallible  authority  in 
matters  of  faith  and  doctrine  ;  and  who  hold  this  authority  to 
be  a  necessary  interpreter  of  the  Word  of  the  living  God. 
They  set  up  this  Tradition  as  an  infallible  Judge  on  the  theo- 
logical bench,  and  bow  to  its  oracular  decisions  with  an  im- 
plicit faith.  But,  such  is  not  the  rank,  which  we  have  been 
taught  to  assign  this  speaker.  We  pkce  it,  not  as  Judge  on 
the  bench,  but  as  evidence  on  the  witnesses'  stand  ;  and  we 
receive  its  statements  only  so  far  as  they  are  harmonious  with 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  doctrine — the  everlasting 
Word  of  Truth. 

Look  back,  then,  and  question  carefully  the  witnesses  whom 
I  have  called.  Do  they  speak  according  to  this  Word  ]  If  so, 
give  them  your  credence,  not  because  they  can  add  any  thing 
of  certainty  to  that  Word,  but  because  they  are  the  unim- 
peached  sons  of  that  Church  to  which,  as  Episcopalians,  Ave 
belong,  and  because  they  speak  according  "  to  the  Law  and 
the  Testimony"  which  the  Holy  Spirit  Lath  penned,  and 
which  secure  to  us  the  priceless  heritage  of  the  one  true 
Savior  "  of  all  faithful  people" — of  all  holy  believers. 


PART  II. 


THE  VISIBLE   CHURCH 


DISCOURSE  VI. 


"  As  God  hath  distrihuted  to  every  man,  as  the  Lord  hath  called  every  one, 
so  let  him  walk  j  and  so  ordain  I  in  all  the  Churches." — I  Cor.  vii ;  17. 


The  Church,  as  it  is,  in  the  truest  and  highest  sense,  one, 
Catholic,  or  Universal,  has  already  occupied  us  through  a 
series  of  discourses.  On  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  and  on 
the  testimony  of  our  own  Standards,  and  of  the  standard 
writers  of  our  own  Protestant  Reformation,  we  have  seen  it, 
in  this  sense,  composed  of  "  all  faithful  people  ;"  of  all  true 
believers  ;  of  all,  who,  by  a  living  faith,  "  hold  the  Head"  of 
the  Body,  which  is  Christ ;  and  who,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are, 
in  that  faith,  sanctified  and  saved.  This  is  "  The  Church  of 
the  First-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven"  even  while  so- 
journing on  earth;  and  which,  in  the  present  life,  do  "come 
to  God,  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  and  to  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  Covenant,  and 
to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh  better  things  than  that 
of  Abel."  To  this  Church,  made  up  of  saints  alive,  and  of 
the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect ;  whose  Mediator  and 
High  Priest  is  Christ,  and  whose  cleansing  is  in  the  precious 
blood  of  sprinkling ;  all  true  believers  "  come  "  the  moment 
they  are  true  believers ;  they  wait  not  longer  for  membership 
in  it,  but  enter  then  into  its  holy  oneness,  its  great  communion, 
its  divine  Catholicism.  This  is  the  Church,  in  what  I  have 
termed  the  true,  spiritual  sense  ;  or,  what  old  writers  call 
"  The  Invisible  Church,"  because  the  bond  of  membership, 
which  unites  the  believer  to  Christ,  is  invisible. 

But,  I  have  already  said  ;  there  is  a  sense,  in  which  Christ's 


100  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

Church  is  Visible.  I  now  add  ;  there  is  a  sense,  in  which 
this  Visible  Church  is  Catholic,  or  Universal ;  and  the  question, 
upon  which  I  propose  to  enter,  is  this;  what  is  this  visi- 
bly Catholic,  or  Universal  Church  1  Or  whom  does  it  com- 
prehend 1  The  true  Comprehension  of  this  Visible  Church  is 
the  theme  now  before  us. 

I  am  not  unaware,  either  of  the  difficulties,  by  which  this 
part  of  the  subject  is  beset,  or  of  the  strong  repugnance,  which, 
in  certain  quarters,  is  felt  to  some  of  the  views  now  to  be  pre- 
sented. Still,  as  I  consider  them  to  rest  on  the  authority  of 
the  Bible,  and  to  be  supported  by  the  testimony  of  our  own 
Standards,  and  standard  writers,  I  shall  present  them  with  a 
consciousness  of  fidelity  to  the  vows,  which  are  on  me  ;  and 
shall  hope,  ere  I  close,  to  satisfy  all,  who  will  read  with  candor 
and  with  patience,  if  not  of  the  demonstrable  truth  of  my 
positions,  at  least  of  their  credible  claim  to  the  character  of 
sound,  Protestant  Episcopacy. 

I  begin,  then,  by  distinctly  acknowledging,  that  the  view, 
which  we  take  of  what  is  essential  to  the  existence  of  the 
Church  in  its  spiritual  Catholicism,  necessarily  governs  the 
view,  which  we  take  of  what  is  comprehended  in  the  Church, 
in  its  visible  Catholicism.  In  other  words,  the  view  which 
we  take  of  the  one,  true,  Spiritual  Church  of  Christ,  naturally 
determines  the  view,  which  we  are  to  take  of  the  Church,  as  a 
visible,  organized  Body. 

All  true  Christians  hold,  as  most  vital,  that  there  are  such 
realities  as  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  union  with  Christ,  and  the 
pardon  of  sin.  These  realities  make  up  the  infinitely  rich 
legacy  of  God  to  man.  Without  them,  there  can  be  neither 
Church,  nor  Christianity.  The  difference  among  Christians 
lies,  not  in  admitting,  or  denying  these  divine  verities,  but,  in 
settling  the  question,  how  they  are  to  be  realized,  or  received, 
by  the  disciples  of  Christ.  To  recur,  then,  to  the  second  and 
third  definitions  of  the  Church,  which  I  gave  in  opening  this 
whole  subject ;  if,  on  the  one  hand,  we  hold  that  an  Episco- 
pally  constituted  ministry  is  essential  to  the  very  being  of 
the  Church ;  indispensably  necessary,  as  "  a  ministerial  inter- 
,vention"  between  God  and  man,  for  the  communication,  or 


VISIBLE  CHURCH.  101 

conveyance,  of  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  union  with  Christ,  and 
the  pardon  of  sin  ;  then,  it  will  necessarily  follow,  that  the 
Church,  as  visibly  Catholic,  can  comprehend  none  but  those 
who   are  in   subjection   to    an   Episcopal   ministry;   because 
through  this  ministry  alone  the  gifts  requisite  to  salvation  are 
received.     Then  the  Visible  Church  and  the  Episcopally  or- 
ganized Body  are  necessarily  identical ;    mutually  bounding 
each  other,  and  excluding  all  besides.     But  if,   on  the  other 
hand,  we  hold,  that  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  union  with  Christ, 
and  the  pardon  of  sin,  are  direct  bestowments  from  God  upon 
the  individual  soul,  received  by  faith,  Avithout  any  other  ne- 
cessary intervention    than  that  of  divinely  inspired  Truth ; 
then  it  will  unavoidably  follow,  that  the  Church,  as  visibly 
Catholic,  comprehends  all  those  Christian  organizations  through- 
out the  world,  and  under  whatever  form  of  ministry,  in  which 
Christ  is  truly  confessed,  his  Gospel  truly  held,  and  his  Sacra- 
ments, really  administered  ;  and  within  which  God  vouchsafes 
the  gift  of  His  Spirit,  union  with  Christ,  and  the  pardon  of 
sin.     All   such   Christian    organizations    will   belong   to   the 
Visible   Catholic  Church,  not  because  all  their  members  are 
partakers  of  these  unspeakable  benefits,  but  because,  among 
them,  the  partakers  of  these  benefits  are  imbodied  in  outward, 
visible  form.    The  real  partakers  of  these  benefits,  as  we  have 
seen,  constitute,  alone,  thj  one  true  Spiritual  Church,  by  vir- 
tue of  their  union   with    Christ,    through   the    Spirit.      The 
Church,  in  that  sense,  is  nothing  else  than  the  whole  Body  of 
members   thus   spiritually  united   with   their   Divine  Head. 
Wherever,  then,  these  members  are  imbodied  in  an  outward, 
visible  organization,  with  a  true  confession  of  Christ,  a  true 
profession  of  His  Gospel,  and  a  common  union  in  His  Sacra- 
ments, there,  according  to  this  view,  will  be  a  portion  of  the 
Visible  Catholic  Church ;  the  main  difference  between  the  true 
Spiritual  Church  and  the   Church  visible  or  organized,  con- 
sisting in  this  ;  that  the  former  is  the  Church  as  God  seeth  it ; 
while  the  latter  is  the  Church  as  man  sees  it.     The  organiza- 
tion itself  of  the  Visible  Church  is  certainly  a  divine  provision, 
or  arrangement ;  bitt,  from  its  very  nature,  and  the  condition 
of  man,   the  application  of  that  provision  to  human  society 


102  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

results  in  this  difTerence  between  the  Spiritual  and  the  Visible 
Church ;  that  the  former  hath  none  but  true  and  living  mem- 
bers ;  while  the  latter  hath  many  false  and  dead  members. 

Which,  then,  of  the  two  views,  thus  re-introduced,  are  we 
to  adopt  1  To  which  do  the  Bible  and  our  own  Church  lend 
their  testimony  1  I  can  only  answer  for  one,  as  a  student  of 
the  Bible  and  of  the  teachings  of  our  Church,  that  they  seem 
to  me  to  lead  decidedly  to  the  adoption  of  the  latter  view. 

1.  As  bearing  on  this  point,  I  cannot  think  it  insignificant, 
that,  when  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  true,  universal,  and  holy 
Church  of  Christ,  it  speaks  of  it  as  one,  without  reference  to 
times,  places,  or  outward  peculiarities  ;  and  in  the  most  uni- 
versal and  unqualified  terms,  as  all  holy  and  all  in  Christ ;  but, 
that,  when  it  speaks  of  the  Church  as  a  visible  organization,  it 
often  speaks  of  it  as  many,  as  bounded  by  times  and  places,  and 
as  subject  to  all  the  diversities,  mutations,  and  imperfections, 
which  grow  out  of  man's  mixed  and  sinful  state. 

The  texts,  which  I  have  examined  in  the  former  part  of  this 
series,  will  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  the  former  part  of  this 
remark.  In  those  passages,  the  Bible  speaks  of  the  Church  as 
the  "  One  fold  under  the  One  Shepherd  ;"  "  the  whole  family, 
which  is  named  in  heaven  and  earth  j"  "  The  Bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife  ;"  the  "  One  Body"  of  Christ ;  the  "  Holy  Tem- 
ple in  the  Lord,"  into  which  all,  who  are  builded  upon  Christ 
by  faith,  do  "  grow."  This  is  what  Christ  calls,  "  My 
Church,"  which  He  buildeth  on  Himself:  "  The  Church,"  to 
which  "the  Lord  daily  added  the  saved,"  "the  Church, 
which  is  His  Body  ;  the  fullness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all  j" 
"  The  Church  in  Christ  Jesus,"  in  which  God  is  to  be  glorified 
"  throughout  all  ages  ;"  "  The  Church"  which  Christ  "  loved," 
and  for  which  He  "  gave  Himself;"  "  The  Church  of  the 
living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  Truth;"  "The 
Church,"  whose  members  are  all  Christ's  "  brethren  ;"  and 
"  the  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  First-born,  which  are 
written  in  Heaven."  All  this  language,  it  will  be  remembered, 
is  not  only  thus  absolute,  and  perfectly  unrestricted  to  time, 
place,  and  outward  peculiarity',  but  constantly  intermingled 
with  the  ascription,  to  all  the  members  of  the  Church  in  this 


THE  SPIRITUAL,  ONE  ;    THE  VISIBLE,  MANY.  103 

sense,  of  life,  and  growth,  and  holiness,  and  the  certain  inhe- 
ritance of  eternal  glory. 

What  I  mean  by  the  latter  part  of  the  remark,  which  I  am 
now  illustrating,  will  appear  from  such  passages  as  that  pre- 
fixed to  the  present  discourse :  "  So  ordain  I  in  all  the 
Churches."  Let  us  collect  a  few  of  the  passages,  in  which 
the  Church,  as  visible  and  organized,  is  evidently  intended. 

"  Then  had  the  Churches  rest  throughout  all  Judea."  "  If 
any  man  seem  to  be  contentious,  we  have  no  such  custom, 
neither  the  Churches  of  God."  "  Let  your  women  keep  silence 
in  the  Churches."  "^As  I  have  given  order  to  the  Churches  of 
Galatia."  "The  Churches  of  Asia  salute  you."  "  Chosen  of 
the  Churches  to  travel  with  us."  "  Messengers  of  the  Churches." 
*'  That,  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care  of  all  the 
Churches."  "  John,  to  the  Seven  Churches  in  Asia."  "  There 
was  a  great  persecution  against  the  Church,  which  was  at  Jeru- 
salem." "  When  they  had  ordained  them  elders  in  every 
Church."  "  The  Church  at  Babylon,  elected  together  with 
you,  saluteth  you."  "I  wrote  unto  the  Church;  but  Dio- 
trephes,  who  loveth  to  have  the  pre-eminence  among  them, 
receiveth  us  not."  "The  Church  that  was  at  Antioch."  "If, 
then,  ye  have  judgments  of  things  pertaining  to  this  life,  set 
them  to  judge,  who  are  least  esteemed  in  the  Church.  I  speak 
to  your  shame."  "  Cause  that  this  Epistle  be  read  in  the 
Church  of  the  Laodiceans."  "  In  eating,  every  one  taketh 
before  other  his  own  supper  ;  and  one  is  hungry,  and  another 
is  drunken.  What !  have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  to  drink 
in  1  Or,  despise  ye  the  Church  of  God,  and  shame  them  that 
have  nof?"  "Unto  the  Angel  of  the  Church  in  Sardis, 
write : — I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou 
livest,  and  art  dead."  And,  "  unto  the  Church  of  the  Laodi- 
ceans, write  ; — I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold 
nor  hot.  I  would  thou  wert  cold  or  hot.  So  then,  because 
thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I  will  spue 
thee  out  of  my  mouth."* 

•  Acts  ix ;  31.— I  Cor.  xi ;  16.— xiv  ;  34.— xvi ;  i.— xtI  ;  19.— II  Cor.  viii ;  19, 23. 
xi;  28.— Rev.  i;  4.— Acts  viii ;  1.— xiv  j  23.— I  Pet.v;  13.— IllJohn  9.— Acts 
xiii;  1.— ICor.Ti;4,5.— Col.iv;l6.— ICor.xi;21,22.— Rev.iii;  1.— iii;  14-16 


104  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

In  reading  these,  and  a  multitude  of  similar  passages,  we 
find  ourselves  in  a  very  different  atmosphere  from  that  which 
surrounded  us  while  reading  those  before  quoted.  Here  all 
that  is  absolute,  universal,  and  general  in  the  language  is  drop- 
ped} and  every  thing  becomes  conditioned,  limited,  and  par- 
ticular. Here,  we  are  no  longer  in  the  Church  as  it  exists  in 
Christ, — all  calm,  and  peaceful,  and  holy,  and  full  of  fore- 
tastes, and  of  the  likeness  of  Heaven  ;  we  are  clearly  in  the 
Church  as  it  comes  out  into  mixture  and  conflict  among  men  ; 
an  impure  and  imperfect,  an  unresting  and  disordered,  a 
changing  and  suffering  Body.  Here,  We  find  the  Church  not 
only  as  one,  but  also  as  many ;  a  Church  at  rest,  and  in  per- 
secution ;  bounded  by  times  and  places ;  modified  by  "  cus- 
tom" and  "order;"  choosing  and  sending  "messengers;" 
writing  and  reading,  delivering  and  receiving  Epistles  ;  "or- 
daining Elders,"  and  dispensing  sacraments  ;  doing  all  things 
as  mixed  human  bodies  are  wont  to  do  ;  and,  withal,  affected 
by  the  doing  of  them  too  much  as  such  bodies  usually  are 
affected  ;  having  judgments,  or  law  proceedings,  about  the 
things  of  this  life  ;  troubled  with  ambitions  and  contentions ; 
abusing  the  most  sacred  of  rites  to  purposes  of  gluttony  and 
drunkenness ;  having  sometimes  a  name  to  live  while  really 
dead  ;  frequently  engaged  in  things  beautiful  and  commenda- 
ble, and  not  always  clear  of  those,  for  which  they  were  to  be 
shamed,  and  on  account  of  which  Christ  put  them  loathingly 
away  from  Himself! 

Now,  though  all  this  does  not  shew  us  what  the  Church  as 
visibly  Catholic,  comprehends,  yet  it  does  shew  us  how  very 
different  a  thing  it  is  from  the  Church  as  one,  and  spiritual, 
and  holy;  as  a  "Communion  of  Saints."  And  it  gives  us  a 
kind  of  starting-point  in  our  inquiries ;  and  shews  us,  in  not  a 
few  respects,  what  we  are  to  look  for  in  the  Church  as  visibly 
Catholic,  or  Universal;  that  we  may  expect  to  find  it  existing, 
in  many  places  and  under  separate,  independent  organizations  ; 
divided  and  corrupted  ;  exposed,  in  parts,  to  extinguishment, 
and  even  liable  to  be  utterly  rejected  of  God. 

2.  Perhaps  we  may  get  along,  a  little  further,  in  our  in- 
quiries by  looking  at  a  somewhat  different  class  of  passages:— 


THE  NET  :    THE  FIELD.  105 

those,  which  speak  of  the  Church  as  a  "  kingdom."  I  cannot 
refer  to  all  these  passages ;  for  they  are  very  numerous ;  I  will, 
therefore,  select  two,  most  to  my  purpose. 

In  one  place,  Christ  compares  "  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  " 
to  "  a  Net  cast  into  the  sea,  and  gathering  of  every  kind ; 
which,  when  full,  they  drew  to  the  shore  ;  saving  the  good  in 
vessels,  but  casting  the  bad  away."*  The  Net,  here,  is  evi- 
dently the  visible  Church  Catholic,  with  its  organization  under 
ministry,  and  worship,  and  sacraments.  The  sea,  into  which 
the  Net  is  cast,  is,  this  whole  world,  bounded  by  the  shores  of 
time.  The  "  every  kind,"  gathered  by  the  Net,  are  the 
countless  multitude  of  souls,  of  all  names,  characters,  and  con- 
ditions, the  precious  and  vile,  which  the  Visible  Church 
Catholic  gathers  within  its  wide-sweeping  organizations.  And 
"  the  shore,"  to  which  the  Net  is  drawn  for  the  grand  separa- 
ting process,  is  the  limit,  at  which  time  borders  this  world  by 
eternity,  and  casts  up  its  millions  into  the  judgment ;  drawing 
the  true.  Spiritual  Church  at  length,  out  of  the  Visible,  shew- 
ing their  everlasting  difference,  and  making  the  former  perfect 
in  glory. 

In  another  place,  Christ  compares  this  same  "  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  to  a  man  that  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field :"  adding ; 
"  But,  while  men  slept,  his  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares 
among  the  wheat,  and  went  his  way."  The  wheat  and  the 
tares  sprang  up  and  grew  confusedly  together,  until  the  harvest : 
but  then,  the  reapers  gathered  the  tares  into  bundles  for  the 
burning;  but  the  wheat,  into  the  master's  barn.f 

This  parable  is  remarkable  for  exhibiting  the  true  Spiritual 
Church,  and  the  Church  visible,  both  in  their  separateness  and 
in  their  commixture.  "  The  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the 
kingdom,"  and  they  alone.  None  others  belong  to  the  true 
Church.  "  The  tares  are  children  of  the  Wicked  One,"  and 
constitute  no  part  of  that  Church.  And  yet,  they  are  sown 
and  growing  in  the  kingdom,  in  the  Church  visible.  The 
Spiritual  and  the  Visible  Church  are  therefore  separate  and 
yet  commingled.     They  co-exist ;  yet  are  not  the  same.     The 

•  Malt.xiii;  47,  4S.  t  Matt,  xiii ;  24— 43. 


106  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

other  parts  of  the  parable  are  explained  to  our  hand.  "  The 
Field  is  the  world,"  this  whole  earth,  as  the  harvest  ground, 
from  which  the  Visible  Church  is  to  gather  its  vast  and  mingled 
multitudes  of  unspeakably  different  characters  and  names. — 
"  The  Harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world  ;"  the  great  day  of  judg- 
ment and  of  separation.  "  The  Reapers  are  the  Angels ;"  and 
the  severance,  which  they  Avork,  is  the  result  of  the  judgment 
in  the  perdition  of  the  wicked,  and  in  the  "  shining  forth  of 
the  righteous,  as  the  Sun,  in  the  Kingdom  of  their  Father." 

Now,  both  these  parabolic  views  of  the  Visible  Church 
Catholic  shew  that  the  Church,  in  this  sense,  comprehends  all, 
of  every  name  and  character,  whom  the  outward  angencies  of 
the  true  Gospel  gather  out  of  the  great  sea  of  time,  and  the 
wide  field  of  the  world.  The  Church,  in  this  sense,  is  a  most 
mixed,  as  well  as  most  multitudinous  Body  5  and  the  parables 
evidently  require  us  to  comprehend  in  it  the  whole  mighty 
mass  surnamed  of  Christ  and  living  under  his  true  Gospel  and 
its  institutes,  from  side  to  side  of  the  earth,  and  from  begin- 
ning to  end  of  the  Church's  dispensation  !  They  leave  out 
none,  among  whom  the  real  children  of  the  kingdom  are  thus 
visibly  organized. 

3.  We  shall  bring  our  subject  into  new  light,  if  we  look  a 
moment  at  the  definition,  which  makes  the  Episcopacy  essen- 
tial to  the  very  being  of  the  Visible  Church.  This  definition 
rests  on  the  theory  that  this  Episcopacy  is  a  necessary  minis- 
terial intervention  between  God  and  man  for  the  conveyance 
of  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  union  with  Christ,  and  the  pardon  of 
sin.  Now,  the  thoroughly  unscriptural  character  of  this  theory 
is,  to  my  mind,  settled  by  this  one  consideration  ;  that  it  vir- 
tually puts  two  mediators  between  God  and  his  creatures; 
while  the  Bible  puts  but  one.  The  Bible  says  ;— "  There  is 
but  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the 
man  Christ  Jesus."*  And  when  it  says ;  "  there  is  one  Medi- 
ator between  God  and  men,"  it  means,  that  there  is  but  one  ; 
as  necessarily  as,  when  it  says  "  there  is  one  God,"  it  means, 
that  there  is  but  one.     We  may  as  well  contend,  against  this 

•I  Tim-ii;  5. 


FALSE  VIEW  OF  ESSENTIALS.  107 

text,  that  there  are  two  Gods,  in  any  sense,  as  to  say  that 
there  are,  in  any  sense,  two  Mediators.  But  this,  the  theor}' 
in  question,  does  say  : — First,  it  puts,  between  men  and  God, 
the  ONE  Mediator,  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  then  it  puts,  between 
men  and  Christ  Jesus,  its  second  Mediator,  a  mediating  priest- 
hood, as  a  necessary  intervention,  without  which  there  is  no 
authorized  way  for  the  conveyance  of  the  gift  of  the  Spirit, 
union  with  Christ,  and  the  pardon  of  sin.  It  does  not  call 
this  priesthood,  or  the  individual,  who  officiates  therein,  a 
Mediator,  in  the  same  sense,  in  which  Christ  is  the  Mediator; 
but,  it  does  consider  this  priesthood,  or  the  individual,  who 
officiates  therein,  as  a  Mediation  ;  offering,  for  the  purpose  of 
conveying,  the  same  sacrifice  with  Christ ;  and  constituting 
the  only  authorized  way  of  dispensing  the  inestimable  bless- 
ings, which  that  sacrifice  has  purchased.  If  the  theory  admit 
that  these  blessings  are  ever  received  without  this  secondary 
mediation,  it  still  holds  that,  without  this  secondary  mediation, 
men  have  no  right  to  look  for  those  blessings ;  that  to  auch 
those  blessings  come — not  by  covenant,  but  without  covenant ; 
that  they  are,  in  fact,  "  uncovenanted  mercies,"  such  as,  per- 
haps, the  heathen  may  experience. 

Probably  this  is  one  of  the  most  unscriptural  and  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  tenets,  ever  held  ;  and  we  might  spend  hours 
in  shewing  how  the  Bible  every  where  confutes  it,  and  how 
history  every  where  exposes  its  perilousness.  We  might  shew 
how  the  Bible  continually  holds  up  Christ  alone,  as  the  only 
"  Days-man,"  between  God  and  his  creatures,  that  needs  to 
"  lay  His  hand  upon  both ;"  how  it  as  continually  invites 
every  poor,  distressed,  and  broken-hearted  sinner  to  come  im- 
mediately and  directly  to  this  Christ,  even  if  it  be  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  heart,  of  the  closet,  or  of  the  desert ;  and  how  it 
calls  every  man,  by  faith,  to  bow  his  head  under  that  pardon- 
ing and  spirit-giving  hand,  which  this  true  Mediator  raises  and 
stretches  man-ward,  while  with  the  other  He  reaches  and 
touches  God-ward  ;  so  that,  thus,  the  true  connecting  links 
being  joined,  the  life  and  all  the  communicable  fullness  of  the 
Infinite  Father,  through  the  Infinite  Son,   may  descend  and' 


108  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

abide  upon  the  believing  child  :  they  alone,  with  hone  and 
nothino-  between  them.  And  then,  we  might  shew  how  history 
repeatedly  reveals  the  perilousness  of  interposing  a  mediating 
priesthood  between  the  sinner  and  the  Savior,  as  a  necessary, 
or  the  only  authorized  channel  of  grace  ;  how  this  awfully 
arroo-ated  power  has  been  most  awfully  abused ;  and  how,  in 
the  hands  of  such  a  creature  as  man,  it  can  never  fail  to  be 
abused  to  some  of  the  worst  of  purposes.  We  might  go  into 
all  the  details  of  this  great  branch  of  our  subject.  But  it  is 
not  necessary  to  my  purpose.  A  glance  at  it  is  enough.  The 
Bible  is  against  this  theory.  This  theory  erects,  as  necessary 
to  the  being  of  the  Visible  Church,  an  intervention,  which  the 
Bible  does  not  necessitate  ;  which,  in  the  prerogatives  claimed 
for  it,  the  Bible  sweeps  clean  away.  The  Visible  Church 
Catholic,  therefore,  cannot  be  limited  by  this  theory.  All, 
that  is  necessary  to  constitute  the  being  of  the  Church  Spi- 
ritual— the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  union  with  Christ,  and  pardon  of 
^in — may  be  obtained,  is  obtained,  without  such  an  intervention 
as  this  theory  supposes.  And  wherever  the  Church  Spiritual 
is  present  and  imbodies  itself  under  the  outward  forms  and  or- 
dinances of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  there  a  portion  of  the  Visible 
■Church  Catholic  is  present  also  ;  though  it  may  exist  under 
•many  disadvantages,  and  with  the  loss  of  many  things,  in 
which  its  well-being  might  reasonably  rejoice. 

We  are  now  prepared  for  some  more  definite  account  of  the 
Visible  Church  Catholic  in  its  true  comprehension.  It  may, 
then,  be  described  as  comprehending  the  whole  visible  com- 
pany on  earth  of  those,  who  profess  faith  in  Christ,  maintain 
the  preaching  of  his  Gospel,  are  united  by  the  common  bond 
of  His  sacraments,  and  are  infected  with  no  heresy,  subversive 
of  the  true  Christian  faith. 

The  mercy  of  a  Savior,  the  mission  of  the  Spirit,  and  the 
messages  of  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  have  been  given  for 
the  great  end  of  saving  the  souls  of  men  from  sin  and  eternal 
death.  These  inrinite  blessings  have  been  operating  in  the 
world  from  the  early  ages  ;  and  the  whole  sum  of  their  effects, 
in  any  age,  the  whole  company  of  the  saved,  when  outwardly 


VISIBLE  CHURCH  DEFINED.  109 

imbodied,  constitutes  the  Visible  Church  Catholic  of  that  age. 
This  Church  is  that  whole  company  of  the  saved  corning  out 
into  visibility  under  the  forms  necessary  to  their  outward 
manifestation ;  and  these  forms  are,  the  preaching  of  the  true 
Gospel,  the  profession  of  the  true  faith,  and  a  common  union 
in  the  sacraments,  which  Christ  has  ordained.  These  n^e  the 
chief  things,  in  which  their  visibility,  as  a  Church,  must  be 
made  manifest.  Their  persons  may  be  made  visible  by  flesh 
and  blood ;  but  their  Church  character  cannot  truly  be  made 
visible  without  these  necessary  forms.  It  must  be  borne  ia 
mind,  however,  that,  in  thus  coming  out  into  visibility,  the 
Church  is  no  longer  the  one,  pure,  and  holy  Church  of  Christ, 
but  an  immense  congregation  of  outward  professors  of  Christ,. 
mixed,  imperfect,  and  more  or  less  defiled  with  error,  worldli- 
ness,  and  sin.  It  is  the  "  net,"  filled  with  "  every  kind,"  the 
"good  and  the  bad;"  it  is  the  "kingdom,"  thick  sown  and 
growing  both  with  "  wheat"  and  with  "  tares." 

Viewed  in  this  light,  no  one  visible  organization  can,  by 
itself,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  be  called  the  Church 
of  Christ,  or  the  Catholic  Church.  The  Church  of  Eome  is 
not  the  Catholic  Church  ;  nor  is  that  of  Greece,  or  that  of 
England,  or  all  these  together,  the  Catholic  Church.  This 
term,  as  we  now  seek  its  comprehension,  covers  the  whole 
visible  company  of  Christ's  professed  followers  on  earth,  so  far 
as  they  hold  the  true  faith,  and  are  united  by  the  common  bond 
of  Christ's  sacraments.  The  very  signification  of  the  word. 
Catholic,  points  to  this  comprehension  of  the  Visible  Church. 
It  means,  "  the  whole ;"  not  any  part,  or  parts.  It  signifies. 
"  Universal,"  not  particular  ;  and  it  is  unwarrantable  assump- 
tion in  any  one  organization,  or  in  any  number  of  members, 
short  of  "  the  whole,"  to  call  itself,  or  themselves,  "  the 
Catholic  Church."  This  comprehends  the  whole  universal 
company  of  Christ's  professed  followers,  holding  to  Him  as 
Head,  to  His  Truth,  in  the  main,  uncorrupt,  and  to  His  sacra- 
ments, in  all  things  necessary  to  their  being. 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  our  nineteenth  Article,  when  rightly 
understood.    "  The  Visible  Church  is  a  congregation  of  faithful 


110  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

men,  in  which  the  pure  word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the 
sacraments  be  duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  ordi- 
nance, in  all  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the 
same."  Here  are  taught  two  things:  1.  The  Church,  "a  con- 
gregation of  faithful  men  ;"  not  any  local  congregation,  but 
the  whole  company  of  true  believers  in  the  world ;  2.  The 
visibility  of  this  Church,  evinced  in  "  the  preaching  of  the 
pure  word  of  God,  and  in  "  the  due  administration  of  the 
sacraments,  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all  things  neces- 
sarily requisite  to  the  same."  As  the  great,  universal  com- 
pany "  of  faithful  men,"  or  true  believers,  in  all  the  world,  it 
is  the  one,  true,  spiritual  Church  of  Christ.  But  as  organized 
under  "the  preaching  of  the  pure  Word  of  God,  and  the  due 
administration  of  the  sacraments,"  it  is  the  Visible  Church 
Catholic  ;  mixed,  imperfect,  divided,  and  much  defiled  with 
errors,  more  or  less  serious. 

That  our  Article  intends  to  give  the  Visible  Church  Catholic 
this  comprehension,  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  it  says  no- 
thing of  what  constitutes  the  essence  of  the  ministry,  or  of 
what  it  is,  that  "  of  necessity,  is  requisite  to  the  due  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacraments,  according  to  Christ's  ordinance." 
It  leaves  both  these  points  at  large,  and  undetermined ;  and  I 
suppose  it  is  hazarding  nothing  to  assert,  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  get  our  Church  to  say,  through  her  authoritative 
Councils,  that  there  can  be  no  Christian  ministry  at  all,  unless 
Episcopally  constituted  ;  and  no  Christian  sacraments  at  all, 
unless  Episcopally  administered.  In  the  preface  to  her  ordi- 
nation service,  she  says  that  there  is,  and  since  "  the  Apostles' 
times,"  ever  has  been,  an  Episcopal  ministry  ;  and,  of  course, 
sacraments  Episcopally  administered.  But,  even  there,  she  says 
not,  that  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  Christian  ministry,  or 
Christian  sacraments,  without  the  Episcopacy.  She  hath  never 
promulged  such  a  decision ;  and  I  hesitate  not  to  repeat,  she 
cannot  be  made  to  pass,  authoritatively,  such  a  sentence.  She 
proclaims  herself  a  true  Church  ;  and  she  leaves  others  to  the 
liberty  of  proclaiming  the  same  for  themselves  j  and,  if  they 
can,  of  proving  what  they  proclaim. 


XrXTH  ARTICLE  :    ORDINAL.  Ill 

In  my  next  discourse,  I  propose  to  shew  that  the  view,  now 
taken  of  the  Visible  Church  Catholic,  is  still  more  largely  sus- 
tained by  the  Standards  and  the  standard  writers  of  our  Com- 
munion. For  the  present,  it  must  suffice  to  have  introduced 
this  branch  of  the  subject  j  and  now  to  ask,  upon  what  has 
been  said,  God's  rich  and  abundant  blessing.  May  the  large 
and  liberal  spirit  of  our  Zion  rest,  in  its  fullness,  on  every  son, 
whom  she  numbers  among  her  children. 


/O  h.is  eoTu'm-d'M.rf.S  \M£  bow, 

^4,vr  oj"  the  host-  iuv£  CYoSseoUk^  /^^^ 
Aifiot  Pdvt  hre  crossing  yufwJ^ 


DISCOURSE  VII. 


^<  So  were  ihe  Churches  established  in  th«  faith." — Acts  xvi ;  5. 


The  Christian  faith  is  exactly  comprehensive  of  the  Chiis- 
Tian  Church.  The  former  is  the  true  boundary  of  the  latter. 
When  this  faith,  true  and  sound,  is  received  into  the  heart, 
producing  a  holy  and  living  union  with  Christ,  it  constitutes  a 
member  of  the  true,  Spiritual,  or  Invisible  Church  Catholic. 
And  when  this  faith,  in  the  main  whole  and  uncorrupt,  is  car- 
ried out  into  profession,  under  the  appropriate  forms,  it  consti- 
tutes a  member  of  the  real  Visible  Church  Catholic.  And  so, 
in  both  senses,  the  Christian  faith  is  the  only  true  comprehen- 
sion of  the  Christian  Church.  This  faith,  or  the  substance  of 
what  Christ  requires  to  be  believed,  is  the  grand,  all-essential 
thing  in  this  inquiry.  A  renunciation  of  this  is,  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  a  renunciation  of  the  Church.  Hence,  near  the 
close  of  my  last  discourse,  in  describing  the  Church  in  its  ex- 
ternal Catholicism,  it  was  represented  as  comprehending  the 
whole  visible  company  on  earth,  of  those  who  profess  faith  in 
Christ,  maintain  the  preaching  of  His  Gospel,  are  united  by 
the  common  bond  of  His  sacraments,  and  are  infected  with 
no  heresy  subversive  of  the  true  Christian  faith.  This  last 
mark  was  added,  because  a  heresy,  which  really  subverts  the 
true  and  whole  Christian  faith,  may  well  bo  considered  as 
effecting  a  severance  from  the  Visible  Christian  Church.  In  the 
Apostles'  days,  as  we  learn  from  the  passage,  Acts  xvi ;  5,  "  the 
Churches  were  established  in  the  faith."  A  subversion  of  the 
8 


114  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

faith  must,  therefore,  so  far  as  it  extends,  be  considered  a 
subversion  of  the  Church.  To  the  same  extent,  a  corruption  of 
the  faith,  which  amounts  not  to  its  subversion,  is  but  a  corrup- 
tion of  the  Church.  It  amounts  not  to  its  subversion.  Save 
the  substance  of  the  faith  in  its  outward  profession,  and  you 
save  the  substance  of  the  Church  in  its  visible  Catholicism. 

I.  This,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  is  the  view  of  the  Visi- 
ble Church  Catholic,  which  is  taken  by  our  own  Standards, 
and  our  best  standard  writers  :  a  remark  to  the  brief  illustra- 
tion of  which  I  now  invite  attention. 

1.  In  looking  at  our  Standards,  then,  we  may  refer  again  to 
our  XlXth  Article.  It  defines  "  the  Visible  Church  of  Christ" 
to  be,  as  to  its  essence,  "a  Congregation  of  faithful  men ;"  and 
then,  as  to  its  visibility,  that  congregation,  that  whole  com- 
pany, "  in  which  the  pure  Word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the 
sacraments  be  duly  administered  according  to  Christ's  ordi- 
nance, in  all  those  things  that,  of  necessity,  are  requisite  to 
the  same."  Wherever  the  great  congregation  of  true  believ- 
ers come  out  into  profession,  under  the  preaching  of  the  true 
Gospel,  and  a  due  administration  of  Christ's  sacraments,  in 
all  things  necessary  thereto,  there,  according  to  this  Article, 
the  true  Visible  Church  of  Christ  exists.  What  is,  indeed, 
necessary  to  the  due  administration  of  these  sacraments,  the 
Article  does  not  decide.  Individual  writers  may  be  found,  in 
sufficient  numbers,  who  strenuously  contend  that,  to  the  very 
essence  of  these  sacraments,  an  Episcopal  ministry  is  neces- 
sary ;  that,  without  this  ministry,  there  is  and  can  be  no  such 
thing:  as  a  Christian  sacrament.  But  this  decision  our  Church 
has  not  pronounced,  and  cannot  be  made  authoritatively  to  de- 
clare. So  far  is  she  from  this,  that  her  highest  authorities  in 
England,  following  in  this  the  voice  of  antiquity,  have  decided 
that  even  lay-baptism,  however  irregular,  is  nevertheless  valid, 
and  ought  not  to  be  repeated.  Her  Article,  therefore,  does,  by 
no  means,  teach  that  the  Visible  Church  of  Christ  is  confined 
to  the  limits  of  Episcopally  administered  sacraments.  It  is 
one  thing,  to  say  that  non-Episcopal  bodies,  as  separate  organ- 
izations, are,  in  the  full  sense,  regular  Churches  ;  and  quite 
another,  to  say  that  their  members  belong  to  the  one  Visible 


TESTIMONY  OF  STANDARDS.  115 

Catholic  Church  of  Christ.  The  former,  an  Episcopalian 
needs  not  to  assert ;  to  the  latter  it  behooves  him  very  stead- 
fastly to  hold. 

2.  But,  without  dwelling  longer  on  the  Article,  let  us  pro- 
ceed to  other  testimony.  In  our  Communion  service  is  the 
prayer,  entitled,  "For  the  whole  state  of  Christ's  Church  mili- 
tant." This,  rxinderstand  of  the  Visible  Church  on  earth,  of 
this  Church,  as  militant,  or  warring  against  those  deadly  foes 
within  itself,  sin,  error  and  superstition ;  as  well  as  against 
those  leagued  enemies  without,  "  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
Devil."  Of  whom,  then,  according  to  this  solemn  and  author- 
ized form,  does  the  Visible,  or,  as  it  is  here  termed,  "  the  Uni- 
versal Church  "  of  Christ,  His  whole,  or  Catholic  Church,  in 
its  visibility,  consist  ]  Hear  the  witness.  Of  "  all,  who  do 
confess  His  holy  name."  For  all  these,  and  none  less,  the 
prayer  goes  up,  that  they  may,  as  is  most  desirable,  be  "  in^ 
spired  with  the  spirit  of  truth,  unity,  and  concord  ;"  or,  that 
they  "  may  agree  in  the  truth  of  His  holy  Word,  and  live  in 
unity  and  godly  love  :"  and  that  "  their  Bishops,  and  other 
ministers,  may,  both  by  their  life  and  doctrine,  set  forth  His 
true  and  lively  Word,  and  rightly  and  duly  administer  His  holy 
sacraments."  This  testimony  is  very  emphatic.  "  The  Uni- 
versal," or  Catholic  "  Church"  of  Christ,  is  expressly  defined 
as  made  up  of  "  all  who  do  confess  His  holy  name ;"  and  its 
visibility  is  here,  as. in  the  article,  considered  as  coming  out, 
in  this  confession,  under  the  appointed  forms  of  the  preachino- 
of  the  "  true  and  lively  Word,"  and  of  the  "  right  and  due  ad- 
ministration of  the  holy  sacraments."  It  is  true,  that  more  is 
expressed  here  than  in  the  Article.  There  is  a  distinct  intima- 
tion that  we  have  adopted,  and  hold  fast  to,  an  Episcopal  ministry ; 
though  without  any  claim  that  this  ministry  is  indispensably 
necessary  to  the  being  of  the  sacraments.  We  ask  "  grace," 
here,  not  merely  for  "  all  Bishops,  Presbyters  and  Deacons," 
but,  for  "  all  Bishops  and  other  ministers,"  all  other  ministers: 
in  short,  for  all  who  minister  to  the  "  all  who  do  confess 
Christ's  holy  name,"  and  who  thus  make  part  of  "  the  whole," 
or  universal,  "  state  of  His  Church  militant."  This  prayer,  and 
the  ancient  liturgies,  in  which  it  stands,  were  doubtless  framed 


116  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

in  times  when  there  was  none  but  an  Episcopal  ministry. 
But,  it  has  been  adopted,  both  in  England  and  in  this  country, 
with  the  knowledge  and  the  virtual  acknowledgement  of  the 
fact,  that  there  are  now,  in  some  true  sense,  ministers  of  Christ 
who  have  never  been  Episcopally  ordained. 

3.  This  freedom  of  our  Prayer-Book  language  from  all  par- 
ticularizing, its  large  generalness  of  expression,  is  somewhat 
remarkable.  Another  instance  of  it  occurs  in  the  last  prayer,  at 
"  the  Institution  of  Ministers."  We  there  pray  for  "  the 
Church,"  "  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  pro- 
phets, Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone  ;" 
"  that,  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  Christians  may 
be  so  joined  together  in  unity  of  spirit  and  in  the  bond  of 
peace,  that  they  may  be  an  holy  temple,  acceptable  unto 
God."  This  language  is  broad  as  possible.  It  knovv^s  no 
"foundation"  to  the  Church,  narrower  than  "  Christ;"  and  no 
"temple"  for  the  visible  Zion  smaller  than  that  which  con- 
tains "  ALL  Christians."  In  one  sense,  this  is  a  prayer  of  sor- 
rows. It  looks  sadly  on  this  world-wide  Church  of  Christ,  and 
sees  it  agitated,  divided,  and,  in  many  things,  defiled.  In 
another  sense,  however,  it  is  a  prayer  of  faith.  It  looks  en- 
couragingly on  this  Church  universal,  and,  in  the  bending  of 
strong,  hopeful  entreaty,  sees  the  time,  when  the  true  "  unity," 
that  "  of  the  Spirit,"  and  the  true  "  bond,"  that  of  "  Peace," 
shall  embrace  and  bind  together  in  love  "  all  Christians,"  all 
who  profess  the  name  and  faith  of  Christ ;  and  when,  thus,  the 
Church  visible  shall,  as  nearly  as  earth  will  allow,  become 
identical  with  the  Church  spiritual.  And,  in  this  character,  it 
is  a  prayer,  into  which  every  large-hearted  disciple  of  Christ 
delights  to  put  his  whole  soul  of  believing,  trustful  intercession. 

4.  In  the  "  Prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men,"  we  have 
another  instance  of  this  large  generalness  of  language.  We 
there  "  pray  for  the  holy  Church  universal ;"  "  that  all  who  pro- 
fess and  call  themselves  Christians"  "may,"  "by  the  guidance 
and  governance  of  God's  good  Spirit,"  "  be  led  into  the  way  of 
truth,  and  hold  the  faith  in  unity  of  spirit,  in  the  bond  of 
peace,  and  in  righteousness  of  life."  This  prayer,  let  it  be 
remembered,  was  not  in  the  ancient  liturgies.    It  is  of  English, 


TESTIMONY  OF  STANDARDS.  117 

Protestant  origin  ;  and  was  framed,  it  is  alleged,  by  the  great 
and  good  Bishop  Sanderson,  of  Lincoln.  His  views  of  the 
comprehension  of  the  Visible  Church  are,  as  we  shall  see, 
well  known  5  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  when  this  for- 
mula speaks  of  the  "  holy  Church  universal"  as  embracing 
"  all  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians,"  it  means  to 
include,  not  only  all  the  ancient  and  Episcopal  communions, 
but  also  all  the  then  modern.  Reformed,  and  Protestant  bodies, 
though  all  of  these  were  not  Episcopally  constituted.  It 
means,  says  our  American  Bishop  Brownell,  "  the  Oriental, 
the  Greek,  the  Latin,  the  Reformed,  with  every  denomination 
of  Christians."*  When  the  English  Church,  and  our  American 
Episcopal  after  them,  adopted  this  prayer  into  their  solemn 
Liturgy,  they  not  only  prayed,  (with  the  heart  of  every  true 
follower  of  Christ  saying.  Amen,)  that  "  the  faith  may  be  held 
in  unity  of  spirit,  in  the  bond  of  peace,  and  in  righteousness 
of  life,"  but  also  taught,  (with  whatever  of  authority  they 
possess,)  that  the  "  Church  universal"  includes, — amid  what- 
ever of  present  agitation,  division,  and  corruption,  still  in  the 
hope  of  future  peace,  union,  and  purity — "all  who  profess  and 
call  themselves  Christians."  The  profession  of  the  true  Chris- 
tian faith  ;  the  calling  themselves  of  Christ ;  the  putting  of 
themselves  forth  before  the  world  under  the  accustomed  forms 
of  Christian  profession,  under  the  preaching  of  the  pure  Gospel 
and  the  due  reception  of  Christ's  sacraments,  are  here,  by 
specially  Protestant  witnessing,  set  forth  as  the  true,  compre- 
hending lines  of  the  whole  visible  Body  of  Christ. 

5.  This  strong  view  comes  out,  with  a  governing  power,  in 
the  language  used  in  our  American  "  Preface"  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer;  an  official  document  of  the  highest  con- 
sideration, set  forth  by  authority  of  our  highest  Council,  the 
General  Convention  of  1789.  The  language  to  which  I  refer, 
is  this  :  "  But  when,  in  the  course  of  divine  Providence,  these 
American  States  became  independent  with  respect  to  civil 
government,  their  ecclesiastical  independence  was  necessarily 
included  ;  and  the  different  religious  denominations  of  Chris- 

*  Commentary  on  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 


118  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

tians  in  these  states  were  left  at  full  and  equal  liberty  to  model 
and  organize  their  respective  Churches,  and  forms  of  worship 
and  discipline  in  such  manner  as  they  might  judge  most  con- 
venient for  their  future  prosperity  ;  consistently  with  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  their  country." 

Here  the  non-Episcopal  communions  of  the  United  States 
are  acknowledged  to  be  "  Churches."  It  is  not  admissible  to 
say  that  this  word  is  here  used  loosely  and  by  courtesy  ;  or 
that,  while  the  term.  Church,  belongs  exclusively  to  us,  that 
of  "  religious  denominations  of  Christians"  is  the  appropriate 
description  of  others.  The  language  which  I  have  quoted,  is 
not  that  of  mere  careless  politeness.  It  is  that  of  strictly 
serious  intent.  It  has  become  fashionable,  in  certain  quarters, 
to  restrict  the  term,  Church,  to  ourselves,  and  to  apply  that  of 
"  religious  denominations  of  Christians"  to  others.  But  our 
highest  Council,  that  which  first  gave  form  to  our  Church  in 
this  land,  applies  this  latter  description  to  ourselves  as  well  as 
to  others.  When  it  speaks  of  "  the  different  religious  deno- 
minations of  Christians  in  these  states,"  as  being  "  left  at  full 
and  equal  liberty  to  model  and  organize  their  respective 
Churches,"  it  includes  all :  it  calls  ourselves,  as  well  as  the  rest, 
"  a  religious  denomination  of  Christians."  When,  therefore, 
it  declares  that  all  these  denominations  had  "full  and  equal 
liberty  to  model  and  organize  their  respective  Churches,"  it 
admits  that  they  are  all  Churches  ;  it  concedes  the  essence  of 
Church  character  to  others,  as  seriously  and  as  strictly  as  it 
claims  the  essence  of  that  character  for  ourselves.  I  say  not, 
that  it  concedes  to  them  the  same  regularness,  perfectness,  or 
scripturalness  of  Church  character,  which,  in  other  documents, 
we  claim  for  ourselves ;  but,  that  it  concedes  to  them  the  es- 
se7ice  of  that  character  as  seriously  and  as  strictly  as  it  claims 
the  essence  of  that  character  for  ourselves.  Any  other  infer- 
ence makes  our  Church  an  insincere,  equivocating  courtier, 
when  speaking  of  the  things  of  God  in  her  highest,  most  dignified 
capacity,  on  one  of  the  greatest,  most  solemn  crises  of  her  his- 
tory. She  hath  not  thus  degraded  herself.  She  is  erect  in  high- 
minded  integrity.  She  hath  seriously  conceded  to  non-Episco- 
palians the  essence  of  Church  character.    And  this  is  the  reason. 


STANDARD  WRITERS.  119 

why,  at  least  till  she  loses  her  Protestantism,  she  cannot  be 
made  to  utter  the  authoritative  decision,  that  the  Episcopacy- 
is  necessary  to  the  being  of  a  Church ;  or  that  the  non-Epis- 
copal denominations  are  no  Churches. 

So  far,  then,  as  our  Standards  are  concerned,  the  testimony 
may  be  considered  ample  in  favor  of  the  view,  which  I  have 
given  of  the  Visible  Church  Catholic ;  that  it  comprehends  the 
whole  visible  company,  on  earth,  of  those  who  profess  the 
Christian  faith,  maintain  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  are  uni- 
ted by  the  common  bond  of  sacraments,  and  are  infected  by 
no  heresy  subversive  of  the  true  and  whole  faith  of  Christ. 

II.  Let  us  now  look,  a  moment,  at  the  testimony  of  our 
Standard  writers.  It  will  be  found  luminous  on  the  point  of 
which  I  treat.  By  our  standard  writers,  I  mean  those  of  our 
Protestant  Reformation ;  those  who  lived  in  the  country  where 
this  Reformation  took  place,  and  in  the  century  adjoining  that 
in  which  it  happened :  the  English  writers  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

1.  Dr.  Thomas  Jackson,  of  Newcastle,  (already  quoted,) 
writing  in  the  early  part  of  that  century,  and  one  of  the  most 
eminent  of  the  great  men  of  that  great  age,  in  his  "  Treatise  of 
the  holy  Catholic  Faith  and  Church,"  after  defining  "  the  Church 
in  its  prime,"  or  spiritual  "  sense,"  uses  this  language  :  "  In 
a  secondary  analogical  sense,  every  present  visible  Church, 
v^^hich  holdeth  the  holy  Catholic  faith,  without  which  no  man 
can  be  saved,  pure  and  undefiled  with  the  traditions  or  inven- 
tions of  men,  may  be  termed  a  holy  Catholic  Church ;"  not 
only  Catholic,  but  holy.  "  Who  they  be,"  he  adds,  "  which 
profess  the  unity  of  that  faith"  "  is  visible  and  known  to  all 
such  as  either  hear  them  profess  it,  viva  voce,  or  can  read  and  un- 
derstand their  profession  of  it  given  in  writing."*  And,  to  shew 
that,  by  the  phrase,  "  every  present  visible  Church,"  he  does 
not  mean,  every  Episcopal  organization  alone,  he  goes  on  to 
speak  of  "such  a  communion,"  as  existed  "between  the 
orthodoxal  professors  of  the  English,  or  other  Reformed 
Churches,"!  and  of  Luther  and  Christian  princes,  by  God's 

*  Treatise  on  the  Holy  Catholic  Faith  and  Church,  p.  152.    Phi!,  1S44. 
t  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  154. 


120  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

appointment,  uniting  the  visible  members  of  the  holy  Catholic 
Church  into  visible  Churches."* 

Indeed,  in  those  days  of  close  searching  into  the  essence  and 
nature  of  things  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical,  there  was  no  idea, 
among  this  class  of  English  divines,  of  shutting  the  Reformed 
Continental  Churches  out  of  the  pale  of  visible  Catholicism. 
Hence  Bishop  Hall,  even  while  lamenting  their  want  of  Epis- 
copal order,  yet,  in  view  of  their  holding  the  true  faith  of  the 
Gospel,  affectionately  terms  them  "  the  Church  of  England's 
dearest  sisters  abroad. "f  Jackson's  definition,  therefore,  of  the 
Visible  Church,  spreads  itself  over  the  whole  ground  which  we 
have  been  surveying.  To  make  the  Visible  Church  holy,  it 
must,  according  to  him,  hold  the  Catholic  faith  pure  and 
undefiled.  But,  if  it  hold  this  faith,  corrupted  "  by  tradi- 
tions and  inventions  of  men,"  though  it  thereby  ceases  to  be  a 
holy,  3'et  it  does  not  thereby  cease  to  be  a  visible  Church,  or 
a  portion  of  the  one  visible  Church  Catholic  on  earth.  This 
Church  may  and  generally  does  exist  in  a  state  far  from  pure 
and  holy. 

2.  Again,  Bishop  Sanderson,  of  Lincoln,  the  alleged  author 
of  our  "  Prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men,"  utters  a  most  ap- 
posite definition  on  this  point.  After  having  given  that  which 
I  formerly  quoted  when  speaking  of  the  spiritual,  or  invisible 
Church,  he  immediately  adds :  '^  The  whole  company  of  all 
those,  throughout  the  world,  who,  by  their  doctrine  and  wor- 
ship, do  outwardly  make  profession  of  the  name  of  Christ ; 
this  we  call  the  Universal  Visible  Church;  or  the  Catholic 
Christian  Church."  And  then,  to  shew  in  what  various  condi- 
tions this  universal  Visible  Church  may  exist,  and  what  it  is 
that  utterly  subverts  it,  he  says  :  "  A  total  and  utter  defection 
from  the  whole  faith  of  Christ,  in  doctrine  and  in  worship, 
destroys  the  very  being  of  a  Church,  and  maketh  it  no  Church 
at  all.  But,  a  defection  from  the  purity  of  faith  doth  not  take 
away  the  being  of  a  Church :  (It  remains  still  a  true  Church  ;) 
but  only  maketh  it  an  impure  and  corrupt  Church,  and,  so  far 
forth,  a  false  Church."    "  Corruptions  in  doctrine  and  worship, 

*  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  15S.    Phil.  1S44.  t  Hall's  Sermon  on  Noalvs  Dove. 


STANDARD   WRITERS.  121 

as  they  are  greater  or  lesser,  so  they  make  a  Church  more  or 
less,  comparatively"*  corrupt. 

Upon  the  entire  coincidence  of  all  this  with  the  view,  which 
I  have  given  of  the  Visible  Church  Catholic,  I  need  not  stop 
to  comment.  It  makes  the  true  distinction  between  what  is 
necessary  to  the  being,  and  what  is  requisite  to  the  well-being 
of  this  Church. 

The  same  writer  repeatedly  speaks  of  "  the  Protestant 
Churches,"  (meaning  that  of  England  and  those  of  the  Con- 
tinent,) as  standing  together  on  the  *'  substance  of  faith  j" 
being  "  more  or  less  reformed  in  doctrine  and  worship  5"  and 
constituting  "  particular  visible  Churches."! 

3.  Again :  Cosin,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  a  most 
strenuous  Churchman,  calls  the  French  Protestants,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  seventeenth  century,  "  Reformed  Churches,"  and 
discountenances  a  refusal  of  their  Communion,  when  the  plea 
urged  for  such  refusal,  is  that,  "  for  want  of  Episcopal  ordina- 
tion they  have  no  order  at  all ;"  that  is,  no  ministerial  ordina- 
tion. "If,  upon  this  ground,"  says  he,  "we  renounce  the 
French,  we  must,  for  the  very  same  reason,  renounce  all  the 
ministers  of  Germany  besides;"  "  and  then,  what  will  become 
of  the  Protestant  party  ?"  "  If  the  Church  and  kingdom  of 
England  have  acknowledged  them,  (as  they"  have  etc.,)  "why 
should  we,  that  are  but  private  persons,  utterly  disclaim  their 
Communion  1"J  This,  coming  from  such  a  person,  is,  perhaps, 
one  of  the  most  striking  testimonies  to  the  truth  that  Episcopal 
ordination  is  not  indispensable  to  the  being,  though,  in  our 
judgment,  it  certainly  is  to  the  well-being  of  the  Visible 
Church. 

4.  Once  more  ',  the  great  Hooker  hesitates  not  to  speak  thus 
strongly  :  "  If,  by  external  profession,  they  be  Christians,  then 
they  are  the  Visible  Church  of  Christ ;  and  Christians  by  ex- 
ternal profession,  they  are  all,  whose  mark  of  recognizance 
hath  in  it  those  things,  which  we  have  mentioned,  (one  Lord, 

*  Discourse  on  the  Visibility  of  the  true  Church,  in  Hooker's  Collection,  Phil. 
1844,  pp.  213—215. 
t  Discourse,  etc.,  Hooker's  Collection,  pp.  222 — 224. 
i  Letter  to  Cordel,  ibid.  p.  234. 


122  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

one  faith,  one  baptism,)  yea,  although  they  be  impious  idol- 
aters, wicked  heretics,  persons  excommunicable."  And  then 
to  the  question,  whether  it  be  possible  for  such  persons,  belong- 
ing, as  they  really  do,  "to  the  Synagogue  of  Satan,"  to  belong 
also  "  to  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,"  he  answers,  in  the  very 
spirit  of  my  whole  argument,  "  unto  that  Church  which  is  His 
mystical  Body,"  it  is  "  not  possible  "  for  such  persons  to  be- 
long: "because  that  Body  consisteth  of  none  but  only  true 
Israelites,  true  sons  of  Abraham,  true  servants  and  saints  of 
God."  But,  "  of  the  visible  Body  and  Church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
those  may  be  and  often  are  "*  members,  who  answer  the  fear- 
ful description  just  given.  Undoubtedly  then,  according  to 
this  writer,  they  belong  to  this  Church,  who,  are  neither  im- 
pious idolaters  nor  wicked  heretics,  but  who,  in  their  outward 
profession,  hold  the  truth  in  the  main  uncorrupt,  and,  in  their 
outward  lives,  walk  with  becoming  consistency  to  their  pro- 
fession, notwithstanding,  in  the  order  of  their  ministry,  they 
lack  what  we  deem  requisite  to  its  fullness. 

5.  To  the  same  effect,  though,  if  possible,  stronger  still,  is 
the  language  of  Bishop  Hall.  "  It  is  not  the  variety  of  by- 
opinions  that  can  exclude  them  from  having  their  part  in  that 
one  Catholic  Church,  and  their  just  claim  to  the  Communion 
of  Saints.  While  they  hold  the  solid  and  precious  foundation, 
it  is  not  the  hay  or  stubble,  which  they  lay  upon  it,  that  can 
set  them  off  from  God  or  His  Church."  And  then,  after 
lamenting,  in  the  most  impassioned  strain,  the  numerous  dis- 
sensions and  errors,  which  have  crept  in  among  Christians,  he 
proceeds  thus  to  assert  that  they  do  not  destroy  the  real  one- 
ness of  the  visible  Church.  "  Notwithstanding  all  this  hideous 
variety  of  vain  and  heterodoxal  conceptions.  He,  who  is  the 
truth  of  God  and  the  Bridegroom  of  His  Church,  hath  said — 
'  My  Dove,  my  undefiled,  is  one  ;'  one  in  the  main,  essential, 
fundamental  verities  necessary  to  salvation,  though  differing  in 
divers  mis-raised  corollaries,  inconsequent  inferences,  unne- 
cessary additions,  feigned  traditions,  unwarrantable  practices. 
The  Body  is  one,  though  the  garments  differ  j  yea,  rather,  for 

•  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  Book  iii.,  §  I. 


STANDARD  WRITERS.  123 

most  of  these,  the  garment  is  one,  but  differs  in  the  dressing ; 
handsomely  and  comely  set  out  by  some,  disguised  by  another. 
Neither  is  it,  or  ever  shall  be,  in  the  power  of  all  the  fiends 
of  hell,  the  professed  make-baits  of  the  world,  to  make  God's 
Church  other  than  one  :  which  were,  indeed,  utterly  to  ex- 
tinguish and  reduce  it  to  nothing ;  for  the  unity  and  entity  of 
the  Church  can  no  more  be  divided  than  itself."  "  Those,  that 
agree  in  all  the  main  principles  of  religion,  Christ  is  pleased 
to  admit,  for  matter  of  doctrine,  as  members  of  that  Body 
whereof  He  is  the  Head  :  and  if  they  admit  not  of  each  other 
as  such,  the  fault  is  in  the  uncharitableness  of  the  refusers,  no 
less  than  in  the  error  of  the  refused.  If  any  vain  and  loose 
stragglers  will  needs  sever  themselves,  and  willfully  choose  to 
go  ways  of  their  own,  let  them  know  that  the  union  of  Christ's 
Church  shall  consist  entire  without  them.  This  great  ocean 
will  be  one  collection  of  waters,  when  these  drops  are  lost  in 
the  dust."* 

6.  And  finally,  Bishop  Taylor,  declaring  in  what  sense  the 
word.  Church,  is  applied  to  this  mixed,  and  often  distracted 
Body,  says :  "the  word,  Church,"  "  may  be,  and  is,  given  to 
them  by  way  of  supposition,  and  legal  presumption,  as  a  jury 
of  twelve  men  are  called  '  good  men  and  true  5'  that  is  they 
are  not  known  to  be  otherwise,  and  are  therefore  presumed  to 
be  such  :  and  they  are  the  Church,  in  all  human  accounts  ;  that 
is,  they  are  the  congregation  of  all  that  profess  the  name  of 
Christ;  in  which  are  the  wheat  and  the  tares;  and  they  are 
bound  up  in  common  by  the  union  of  sacraments  and  external 
rites,  name  and  profession  ;  but  in  nothing  else."! 

To  estimate  the  true  value  of  these  testimonies,  from  our  old 
writers,  to  the  view,  which  I  have  given  of  the  Visible  Catholic 
Church,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  belong  to  the  age, 
which  closely  follows  that  of  the  Reformation  itself;  that  they 
write  in  view  of  the  great  outstanding  fact  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  Reformed  Body  is  without  an  Episcopal  ministry  ;  and 
that  they  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of  this  portion  as  "  the 
Reformed  Churches." 

•  Bishop  Hall's  Treatise  of  Christ  Mystical,  chapter  vii.,  §  2. 

t  Taylor's  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  Part  ii.,  B.  I.,  Sect,  i.,  §§  i.  and  ii. 


124  THE    CHURCH    UNH'ERSAL. 

This  whole  discussion  about  the  character  of  the  Visible 
Church  might,  it  is  true,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  and  to 
some  minds,  be  uninteresting,  and  even  deemed  unprofitable. 
But,  it  cannot  be  so  considered,  when  we  remember  that  the 
circumstances  of  the  times,  in  which  we  live,  are  very  extra- 
ordinary. We  live  in  a  day,  when  multitudes  in  the  midst  of 
us  are  laboring  to  upheave  the  very  foundations  of  our  Protes- 
tantism, and  to  deprive  of  all  claim  to  the  very  name  of  a 
Church,  those  whom  our  own  ecclesiastical  fathers  have 
acknowledged  as  belonging  to  the  great  visible  Body  of  Christ. 
This  effort  can  never  succeed  without  putting  in  jeopardy  our 
own  integrity,  if  not  our  own  existence,  as  a  Church  j  nor, 
what  is  worse,  without  undermining  all  that  is  most  precieus 
in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  we  receive  it  from  "  the  Living 
Oracles"  of  God  !  Under  such  circumstances,  every  thing, 
touching  right  views  of  even  the  Visible  Church,  links  itself 
vitally  with  the  Christian  teacher's  great  theme,  "  Jesus  Christ, 
and  Him  crucified."  We  must  lose  our  interest  in  this  all- 
essential,  all-enlivening  heart  of  the  Gospel,  before  we  can 
become  indifferent  to  the  great  question,  What  is  the  true 
comprehension  of  the  Visible  Church  1  or,  to  the  efforts,  which 
are  made  to  exclude  from  it  some  of  the  most  marked  portions 
of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ. 

In  speaking  thus,  I  would  be  considered,  not  the  apologist 
of  non-Episcopalians,  but  the  advocate  of  essentially  true 
Church  principles.  That  any  portion  of  the  Visible  Church 
is  without  the  Episcopacy,  is  to  me,  for  sufficient  reasons,  a 
matter  of  sincere  grief.  But,  whatever  be  my  judgment  of 
their  condition,  it  would  be  a  matter,  not  merely  of  real  grief, 
but  of  conscious  wrong,  were  I  to  lay  at  the  basis  of  the  Visible 
Church  a  principle,  which,  in  its  operation,  cuts  off  an}',  who, 
by  the  laws  of  truth  and  right,  belong  to  its  great  corpora- 
tion. 

Other  questions,  touching  the  Visible  Church,  remain  for 
consideration.  The  Lord  give  us  all  a  discerning  spirit — the 
spirit  of  Light — to  guide  us  through  the  many  confusions  of 
time,  and  to  bring  us,  at  last,  to  that  Church  in  eternity,  whose 
members  are  all  "  saints  in  light." 


DISCOURSE  VIII. 


"  God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church  ;  first.  Apostles  ;  secondarily,  Prophets  J 
thirdly,  teachers." — 1  Cor.  xii ;  2S. 


The  Church  Catholic,  in  its  divine  holiness,  and  in  its  actual 
visibleness  ;  what  each  truly  comprehends,  and  what  is  neces- 
sary to  the  actual  being  of  each ;  this  is  the  subject  upon 
which  the  present  series  has  thus  far  been  engaged.  Christ, 
and  the  members  really  united  with  Him  by  the  Spirit,  in  a 
living  and  a  holy  faith;  this  is  the  Spiritual  Church  Catholic  : 
Christ,  and  the  members  profesf?edly  united  with  Him,  under 
the  preaching  of  His  Gospel  and  the  sealing  of  His  sacraments; 
this  is  the  Visible  Church  Catholic  :  each  in  its  essence,  in  what 
is  necessary  to  its  existence. 

And  here,  were  I  dealing  simply  with  principles,  with  the 
truths  of  God's  Word,  and  the  essentials  of  His  Church,  I  might 
leave  the  subject ,  not  because,  even  in  this  view,  it  is  ex- 
hausted, but  because  enouo-h  has  been  said  to  clear  the  one 
point,  at  which  I  have  been  aiming ;  the  true  comprehension 
of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

But,  since  it  is  evident  that  I  am  dealing — not  v/ith  princi* 
pies  alone,  but — with  men,  and  the  practical  working  out  of 
principles,  it  is  also  evident  that  I  am  bound  to  consider  not 
only  what  is  necessary  to  the  being  of  the  Church,  but  also 
what  is  requisite  to  its  well-being;  what  was  designed  to  con- 
duce to  its  order,  its  permanency  and  its  prosperity. 


126  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

I.  The  main  requisites  to  this  well-being  of  the  Church  are 
doubtless  to  be  found  in  a  faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
and  in  a  due  administration  of  the  sacraments  of  Christ. — 
But,  both  these,  as  reason  may  infer  and  as  the  Scriptures 
teach,  imply  a  ministry,  whose  office  it  is  both  to  preach  the 
Gospel  and  to  administer  the  sacraments.  And  this  ministry 
is  of  God.  "  God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church ;  first,  Apos- 
tles ;  secondarily,  Prophets  ;  thirdly  teachers."  Whatever 
name  this  ministry  may,  at  difierent  times,  have  borne ;  by 
whatever  varying  forms  it  may  have  successively  been  modi- 
fied ;  and  through  whatever  outward  channel  it  may,  at  its  first 
beginning,  have  descended  ;  it  came  from  God,  and  not  from 
man :  its  authority  is  divine,  and  not  human. 

I  have  selected  for  consideration  the  passage,  I  Cor.  xii ;  28, 
not  so  much  on  account  of  its  numerals,  its  "  first,  secondarily, 
and  thirdly,"  as  for  two  other  reasons.  It  shews,  as  we  have  just 
seen,  that  the  ministry  of  the  Church  is  from  God;  "  God  hath 
set  it  in  the  Church  :"  and  yet,  it  shews  that  this  ministry  is 
not  the  Church,  but  only  "  some  "  of  its  members,  "  set  "  in 
peculiar  stations,  and  with  special  authority,  "  in  the  Church." 
Its  officers  are  "  set  in  the  Church."  The  Church  is  not,  as 
some  hold,  set  in  its  officers.  The  distinction  between  these 
two  views  is  very  important.  When  writers  of  a  well  known 
school  speak  of  the  Church,  they  speak  as  though  they  had 
nothing  in  view  but  its  ministry  ;  as  though  in  this  ministry  its 
very  being  were  involved;  insomuch  that,  without  this  minis- 
try, the  Church  itself  would  cease  to  exist.  But,  look  into  the 
chapter,  from  which  this  passage  is  taken,  and  see  how  very 
diff'erent  is  the  view  there  given.  "  As  the  Body  is  one,  and 
hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  that  one  Body, 
being  many,  are  one  Body  ;  so  also  is  Christ.  For  by  one 
Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  Body,  whether  we  be  Jews 
or  Gentiles  ;  whether  we  be  bond  or  free  ;  and  have  been  all 
made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit.  For  the  Body  is  not  one  mem- 
ber, but  many."  "  God  hath  set  the  members,  every  one  of 
them,  in  the  Body  as  it  hath  pleased  Him.  And  if  they  were 
all  one  member,  where  were  the  Body  ]     But  now  are  they 


THE  MINISTRY.  127 

many  members,  yet  but  one  Body."*  Here  Christ  is  likened 
to  a  human  body  ;  a  head,  with  many  members  j  and  all  to- 
gether constituting  one  body.  This  Body,  not  its  ministry 
alone,  but  this  whole  Body,  with  its  Head  and  many  members, 
constitutes  the  Church ;  and  in  this  Church  "  God  hath  set 
some"  of  the  members  as  ministers,  in  places  of  peculiar  emi- 
nence and  importance  ;  just  as,  in  the  human  fabric.  He  hath 
assigned  corresponding  stations  to  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the 
hand.  Now,  we  may  as  well  say  that  the  human  body  consists 
in  the  eye,  and  ear,  and  hand ;  or  that  it  cannot  exist  without 
these  important  members ;  as  that  the  Church,  the  Body  of 
Christ,  consists  in  its  ministry,  those  members  whom  "  God 
hath  set"  in  places  of  peculiar  eminence  ;  or  that  it  cannot 
exist  without  this  ministry.  Suppose  the  eye  were  gone,  or  the 
ear,  or  the  hand,  or  all  these  together ;  still  the  body  would 
not  be  gone.  So  long  as  there  are  a  head,  thinking,  knowing, 
and  governing  ;  a  heart,  living,  pulsing  and  feeling  ;  and  ani- 
mal functions,  receiving,  digesting  and  distributing ;  so  long 
as  head,  and  heart,  and  animal  functions  remain,  the  body  re- 
mains, though  it  have  not  eye,  or  ear,  or  hand  ;  yea,  though  it 
want  all  these  at  once.  Under  this  want,  it  would  indeed  be 
a  maimed,  imperfect,  suffering  body  :  still,  it  would  be  a  body, 
with  life, and  soul,  and  action,  and  somewhat  of  enjoyment.  So, 
from  the  Church,  suppose  a  part  or  the  whole  of  its  ministry 
were  gone,  still,  the  Church  itself  would  not  be  gone.  So  long 
as  Christ,  its  thinking,  knowing,  governing  Head  j  and  the 
Spirit,  its  living,  pulsing,  quickening  Heart ;  and  "  the  many 
members,"  its  receiving,  digesting,  distributing  organism  ;  so 
long  as  these  remained,  the  Church  itself  would  remain ;  though 
it  had  not  its  higher,  its  middle,  or  its  lower  ministries  5  yea, 
though  it  wanted  all  its  ministries  at  once.  Under  this  depri- 
vation, it  is  true,  it  would  be  a  maimed,  imperfect,  suffering 
Church;  still  it  would  be  a  Church  ;  and  might  have  life,  spirit, 
and  action,  and  somewhat  of  a  divine  joy. 

1.  This  view  shews  the  difference  between  the  ministry,  as 
being  "  set  in  the  Church  ;"  and  the  Church,  as  consisting  or 

•ICor.  xii;  12—14,18,  19 


128  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

being  organized  in  the  ministry.  It  solves  the  problem, 
whether  the  members  make  the  ministry,  or  the  ministry  the 
members,  of  the  Church  1  by  shewing,  that  the  truth  lies  on 
neither  side  the  question.  Certainly  the  ministry  do  not  make 
the  members  of  the  Church  ;  and  as  certainly  the  members 
do  not  make  the  ministry.  Each,  indeed,  has  somewhat  to  do 
in  recognizing  the  other  ;  but  neither  makes  the  other.  God 
makes  them  both  ;  tits  them  each  for  the  other,  and  sets  them 
both  together  in  Christ.  Just  as  in  the  human  organism  ;  the 
eye  does  not  make  the  ear,  nor  the  hand  the  foot ;  but  God 
makes  them  all ;  fits  them  all  to  serve  and  help  each  other,  and 
sets  them  all  together  in  the  body.  This  truth  is  too  often  left 
out  of  sight.  The  whole  Church,  whether  as  spiritual,  or  as 
risible,  is  God's  work,  not  man's.  True,  He  uses  men  in  this 
work  5  and  He  uses  the  common  members  in  making  the  min- 
istry, as  really  as  He  uses  the  ministry  in  making  common 
members.  Still,  the  work  itself  is  His.  The  Church  is  "  His 
Workmanship."  He  "  sets  all  the  members,"  "  every  one  of 
them,"  in  it ;  the  lower  as  well  as  the  higher.  Without  Hia 
authority  and  agency,  whether  as  inward  or  as  outward,  the 
Church  would  not  exist  j  and  these  are  the  only  things,  without 
which  it  cannot  exist. 

2.  Again;  the  view  given  in  the  chapter,  from  which  the 
passage  is  taken,  shews  the  distinction  between  the  being  of 
the  Church,  and  its  well-being ;  between  what  is  essential  to 
its  existence,  and  what  is  requisite  to  its  fulness,  perfectness, 
and  comfort.  The  eye,  the  ear,  and  the  hand  are  certainly 
requisite  to  the  fulness,  the  perfectness,  and  the  comfort  of  the 
human  body;  and  yet,  if  each  and  everyone  of  these  were 
lost,  the  being,  the  essence  of  the  body  would  remain,  so  long 
as  the  head,  the  heart,  and  the  animal  functions  were  left  un- 
touched and  in  living  action.  It  were  folly  to  lose  sight  of  the 
difference  between  what  is  thus  necessar}'- to  the  being  and  life 
of  the  body,  and  what  is  thus  requisite  to  its  best,  most  effective, 
and  most  happy  being.  It  is  unspeakably  important  to  have  a 
body  with  all  its  members,  especially  its  chief  members ;  a 
body  full,  perfect,  strong,  and  able  to  do  every  thing  for  which 
it  was  designed  :  but,  for  the  purposes  of  this  world,  it  is  better 


THE    MINISTRY.  129 

to  have  a  body,  with  the  loss  of  some  even  of  its  most  impor- 
tant members,  than  to  have  no  body  at  all.  So,  in  the  things 
of  Christ,  a  ministry  is  certainly  requisite  to  the  fulness,  the 
perfectness,  and  the  welfare  of  the  Church  :  and  yet,  if  a  part, 
or  the  whole  of  this  ministry  should,  by  possibility,  be  lost, 
the  being,  the  essence  of  the  Church  would  remain,  so  long  as 
Christ,  the  Spirit,  and  the  great  organism  of  members  remain- 
ed in  divine  life  and  activity.  It  were  equal  folly  to  lose 
sight  of  the  difference  between  what  is  thus  necessary  to  the 
being  and  life  of  the  Church,  and  what  is  thus  requisite  to  its 
best,  most  effective,  and  most  happy  being.  We  cannot  over- 
rate the  importance  of  having  a  Church,  with  its  whole  organ- 
ism of  members,  ministry  and  all,  complete,  perfect,  healthy, 
and  able  to  do  every  thing,  for  which  it  was  constituted :  but, 
for  the  purposes  of  both  worlds,  it  is  better  to  have  a  Church, 
with  the  loss  of  some  even  of  its  chiefest  members,  of  a  part, 
or  the  whole  of  its  ministry,  than  to  have  no  Church  at  all ; 
than  to  lose  Christ,  and  the  Spirit,  and  the  great  "Communion 
of  Saints"  from  off  the  earth  and  out  of  Heaven  j  than  to 
lose  Head,  and  Heart,  and  the  whole  living  organism  from 
among  all  the  offspring  of  the  Infinite  Father. 

It  may  be  urged,  that  if,  by  possibility,  the  ministry  should 
be  lost,  though  the  Church  would  remain  for  a  time,  yet,  by 
the  death  of  its  members,  and  for  want  of  a  ministry  formally 
to  initiate  their  successors,  it  would,  in  the  course  of  one 
natural  generation,  expire.  But,  this  is  not  a  far-sighted  view. 
So  long  as  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Word  of  living 
truth  coming  from  them  both,  remain  in  the  world,  God  can 
make  and  ingraft  a  succession  of  members  into  the  Body  of 
Christ,  which  is  His  Church,  even  without  the  hand  of  an  or- 
dained ministry.  True,  a  Church,  thus  perpetuated,  would, 
as  a  visible  Body,  be  a  maimed,  an  imperfect  Church.  Still, 
it  would  be  a  Church  ;  and,  for  God's  purposes,  unspeakably 
better  than  no  Church  at  all. 

But,  whatever  be  the  difference  between  the  being,  and  the 

well-being  of  the  Church,  we  have  this  to  comfort  us  :    the 

ministry  is  not  lost ;  nor,  while  Christ's  promise  remains  true, 

can  it  ever  be  lost.     What  is  thus  requisite  to  the  well-being 

9 


130  THE    CHURCH    UNITERSAL. 

of  the  Church,  the  Church  has,  and  will  have ;  at  least  till 
Christ  comes  again  and  puts  Himself  once  more  into  the  place 
of  all  ministries, 

II.  This  ministry,  then,  thus  durably  existent,  and  thus 
requisite  to  the  well-being  of  the  Church, — what  is  it  1  1  hat  its 
commission  of  authority  is  from  Christ ;  that  God,  not  man, 
"hath  set  it  in  the  Church,"  and  in  eminence,  as  "some" 
among  the  "  many  members,"  to  serve  and  be  served  in  the 
weal  and  working  of  the  whole  Body,  we  have  already  seen. 
But,  what  is  this  commission  of  authority,  this  eminence  among 
the  members,  with  which  "  God  hath  set  the  ministry  in  the 
Church  1"  This  question  leads  us  into  a  subject  too  wide  for 
argument  in  this  place  ;  and,  therefore,  I  must  content  myself 
with  a  simple  confession  of  my  faith,  that  it  may  stand,  for  the 
present,  instead  of  any  long  array  of  proofs. 

1.  I  begin  this  confession,  then,  in  the  words,  which,  in  the 
Preface  to  her  Ordinal,  or  form  of  Ordaining,  our  Church  her- 
self puts  into  my  mouth  j  and  which  I  am  prepared  to  utter 
out  of  my  heart. 

"  It  is  evident,"  says  this  document,  "  unto  all  men,  dili- 
gently reading  holy  Scripture  and  ancient  authors,  that,  from 
the  Apostles'  time,  there  have  been  these  orders  of  ministers 
in  Christ's  Church  ;  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons.  Which 
offices  were  evermore  had  in  such  reverend  estimation,  that  no 
man  might  presume  to  execute  any  of  them,  except  he  were 
first  called,  tried,  examined,  and  known  to  have  such  qualities 
as  are  requisite  for  the  same  ;  and  also  by  public  prayer,  with 
imposition  of  hands,  were  approved  and  admitted  thereunto 
by  lawful  authority.  And  therefore,  to  the  intent  that  these 
orders  may  be  continued  and  reverently  used  and  esteemed  in 
this  Church,  no  man  shall  be  accounted  or  taken  to  be  a  lawful 
Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon  in  this  Church,  or  suffered  to  execute 
any  of  the  said  functions,  except  he  be  called,  tried,  examined, 
and  admitted  thereunto,  according  to  the  form  hereafter  follow- 
ing, or  hath  had  Episcopal  consecration,  or  ordination." 

This  confession,  it  will  be  seen,  settles,  foj-  us,  several 
points.  First;  that,  "from  the  Apostles'  time,  there  have 
been  in  Christ's  Church  three  orders  of  ministers;    Bishops, 


THE    MINISTRY.  131 

Presbyters,  and  Deacons."  It  says  not,  from  Christ's  time  ; 
but  "  from  the  Apostles'  time."  The  simple  commission  and 
authority  of  the  ministry,  it  receives  from  Christ  himself,  as 
left  by  Him  "in  His  Church."  But  the  distribution  of  this 
commission  and  authority  among  three  orders  it  traces  no 
farther  back  than  the  Apostles.  Christ  put  the  authority  and 
commission  upon  them ;  they  distributed  that  authority  and 
commission  among  three  orders  of  ministers.  In  what  this 
distribution  consisted,  what  special  powers,  or  prerogatives, 
were  assigned  to  each  of  the  three  orders,  is  a  query,  which 
this  confession  does  not  touch.  It  merely  asserts  the  fact  of 
such  distribution,  and  the  existence  of  this  fact  "  in  Christ's 
Church,"  "  from  the  Apostles'  time." 

Second:  that  for  the  exercise  of  any  office  under  this  three- 
fold ministry,  it  was  "  evermore  "  necessary  that  the  incum- 
bent should  be  "  tried,"  found  possessed  of  "  the  requisite 
qualifications  "  and  "  admitted  by  lawful  authority."  Where 
this  "  lawful  authority  "  was  primarily  lodged,  is  also  a  ques- 
tion, which  this  confession  toucheth  not :  it  merely  decides, 
inferentially,  that  any  entrance  into  this  threefold  ministry, 
save  through  the  door  of  such  lawful  authority,  was  "  ever- 
more" held  to  be  an  usurpation,  a  thing  null  of  itself. 

And  third;  that,  "  in  this  Church,"  this  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  of  ours,  the  threefold  ministry  shall  be  perpetuated ; 
and  that  the  only  lawful  way  of  entrance  into  any  of  its  three 
orders  shall  be  through  our  prescribed  forms  of  trial,  and  of 
ordination  by  Bishops,  or  through  some  other  equivalent  Epis- 
copal acts.  Here  the  full  Episcopacy  comes  out,  as  our  unal- 
terable regimen.  It  is  said — not  that  the  trine  ministry,  must, 
to  the  exclusion  of  every  other  form,  be  perpetuated  in  Christ's 
Church,  or  in  the  Church  as  necessary  to  its  existence  ; — but, 
that  this  ministry  shall,  as  a  fact,  be  perpetuated  "  in  this 
Church,"  this  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  ours:  not  that 
there  is  no  possible  way  of  entering  into  the  ministry  of  Christ's 
Church,  or  of  the  Church,  save  through  our  forms  of  trial  and 
ordination,  or  their  equivalents  ;  but  that  there  shall  be  no 
other  lawful  way  of  entering  into  the  ministry  of  "  this 
Church,"  this  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  ours.     In  both 


132  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

places,  that  little  word,  "  this,"  is  brimful  of  meaning  and 
importance.  And  so  it  is  felt  to  be  by  others.  Had  the  Avord 
been  thi:,  instead  of  "  this,"  or  Chkist's,  instead  of  "  this,"  it 
would  have  made  a  vast  difference  of  meaning.  It  would  have 
made  our  Ordinal  declare  what  our  Church  herself  has  never 
declared  ;  and  what, — I  repeat, — till  she  loses  her  Protestant- 
ism, she  cannot  be  made,  by  her  high  authorities,  to  declare  ; 
that,  without  an  Episcopacy,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a 
ministry  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Any  one  may,  if  he  choose, 
privately  hold  such  an  opinion.  But  our  Church  by  her 
authorities  has  never  enforced  it :  she  does  not  here  enforce  it, 
upon  either  her  members  or  her  ministers.  She  merel}'  de- 
clares that,  within  her  limits  and  jurisdiction,  nothing  but  an 
Episcopacy  shall  be  lawful.* 

Once  more  ;  the  confession,  w^hich  I  am  now  upon,  declares  : 
that,  "  to  all  men  diligently  read.ng  holy  Scripture  and  ancient 
authors,  it  is  evident,"  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  there  has  been  a 
trine  ministry  "  in  the  Church  of  Christ  "  ever  since  "  the 
Apostles'  time."  It  declares  that  this  fact  makes  itself  "  evi- 
dent unto  all  diligent  readers"  of  those  olden  records.  And 
for  this,  from  the  heart,  I  contend.  The  confession  says,  not 
that  this  evidence  runs  back  into  Christ,  but  that  it  runs  back 
unto  the  Apostles  ;  and  that  this  evidence  lies,  not  on  the 
"  Scriptures "  alone,  but,  on  the  "  Scriptures  and  ancient 
authors."  And  I  profess  I  cannot  impeach  this  confession  of 
rashness  in  what  it  says.  The  thing  is  reasonably  "  evident  " 
to  all  who  thus  read  both  the  testimonies  cited.     Though  the 

*  Suppose  it  were  argued :  that  The  Preface  to  our  Ordinal  asserts  that,  in 
Christ's  Church  there  have  always  and  every  where  been  Bishops,  Priests,  and 
Deacons  ;  and  therefore  decrees  that  in  this  Church,  this  same  Church  of  Christ, 
no  man  shall  be  accounted  a  lawlul  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon,  or  be  sutiered  to 
execute  any  of  the  said  functions,  unless  he  be  called,  tried,  examined,  and 
admitted  thereto  according  to  our  form,  or  some  other  Episcopal  mode,  of  or- 
dainiu'^:  it  would  be  seen  that  the  conclusion  makes  our  Church  virtually  de- 
clare that  there  is  no  Christian  ministry,  except  such  as  has  been  Episcopally 
ordained ;  that  none  but  such  shall  be  allowed  to  officiate  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  in  any  part  of  the  world.  This  would  not  only  make  her,  in  theory,  un- 
church a  considerable  part  of  Christendom,  but  also  pledge  her  to  carry  the  un- 
churching edict  into  practice.  The  truth  is,  that  in  this  language,  she  is  merely 
defining  who  shall  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  office  of  a  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Dea- 
con in  this,  our  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  Slates  of  America. 


THE    MINISTRY.  133 

Scriptures  alone  may  not  "  evidence  "  this  Episcopal  fact  to 
a  demonstration,  yet,  "diligently  read,"  thoy  shew,  by  no 
equivocal  marks,  the  progress,  which  the  Apostles  made  in  the 
trine  distribution  of  the  ministerial  office.  Taking  the  minis- 
terial commission  and  authority  itself  directly  from  Christ,  one 
of  their  first  acts  was  to  originate,  by  prayer  and  the  laying  on 
of  hands,  an  order  of  Deacons.  Another,  of  frequent  recur- 
rence, was,  the  "ordaining  of  Elders,"  or  Presbyters.  And  a 
third  was,  the  occasional  appointment,  as  in  the  case  of  Timo- 
thy, Titus,  and  others,  of  general  supervisors  over  large  terri- 
tories, who,  whatever  the  powers  and  prerogatives  of  the  other 
orders  may  have  been,  certainly  had,  for  themselves,  the  pow- 
er of  ordaining  to  the  ministry.  Thus  much,  at  least,  is  plain 
on  the  very  face  of  the  Scriptures.  Whoever  will  "diligently 
read  "  them  and  not  see  that  they  make  these  things  "evident," 
I  am  bound  to  ackowledge  that,  so  far  as  I  can  form  a  judgment, 
he  has  a  strange  slowness  to  see,  or  a  stranger  dullness  to  read, 
evidence.  This  evidence,  I  think,  cannot  reasonably  be  put 
out  of  sight,  or  cross-questioned  into  self  contradiction. 

Coming,  then,  from  the  latest  "  Scriptures,"  as  the  writings 
of  the  Apostles,  down  to  the  earliest  "  ancient  authors,"  those 
who  began  to  live  before  the  last  of  the  Apostles  died,  to  Cle- 
ment of  Rome,  Polycarp  of  Smyrna,  and  Ignatius  of  Antioch  ; 
another  thing  is  most  "evident"  to  all  who  "diligently  read" 
them.  It  is,  that,  to  the  three  orders,  which  we  have  seen  the 
Apostles  arranging  in  the  settlement  of  the  ministry,  these 
"  ancient  authors"  gave  distinctive  names.  Whatever  varying 
names  had  been  used  before,  or,  however  interchangeably  some 
of  those  names  may  at  first  have  been  applied,  these  "ancient 
authors"  had  then  settled  upon  three  ;  and,  having  done  so, 
used  them,  with  a  fixed  and  unchangeable  application.  They 
uniformily  called  those  three  grades.  Bishops,  Presbyters,  and 
Deacons.  They  speak  of  those  three  grades,  under  these  three 
distinctively  applied  names,  as  one  of  the  great,  outstanding 
facts  of  their  times ;  and  one  of  them,  Ignatius,  expressly  declares 
that  "  there  was  no  Church  without  them  j"*  in  other  words  :  that 

'  Ep.  ad  Trail  j  in  Apostolical  Fathers.   1st  Am.  ed.,  New  York,  ISIO,  p.  207. 


134  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

in  all  the  Churches,  then  known,  there  were  Bishops,  etc.  Let 
any  candid  man  "dilligently  read"  the  brief  epistles  of  these  first 
three  of  the  "ancient  authors,"  and  I  think  it  will  be  impossible 
for  him  to  doubt  their  views  of  the  apostolically  arranged 
Christian  ministry.  To  my  mind,  I  confess,  there  is  not  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt  on  the  point.  These  authors  do  cast  the 
light  of  a  credible  testimony  back  on  the  Scriptures;  render- 
ing unconcealably  "  evident"  the  fact,  that  this  apostolically 
arranged  ministry  was  threefold,  and  that  its  three  grades  had 
come  to  be  distinctively  and  fixedly  known  by  the  names  of 
Bishops,  Presbyters,  and  Deacons.  This  is  just  Avhat  the  pre- 
face to  our  Ordinal  asserts, — the  evidentness  of  this  great, 
Episcopal  fact,  to  all  "  diligent  readers"  of  those  olden  records ; 
an  evidentness,  which,  as  I  read,  needs  not  argument  to  make 
it  strike  the  eye. 

This,  then,  is  the  confession  of  faith  which  I  have  to  make  ; 
and  to  which,  with  all  my  heart,  I  am  ever  prepared  to  stand. 
And,  having  said  this,  I  am  also  prepared  to  hear  and  answer 
a  question,  which  will  possibly  be  asked.    It  may  be  inquired : 

If  the  apostles  distributed  the  ministry,  which  they  received, 
into  three  orders ;  and  if  their  successors  universally  received 
these  three  orders  as  the  established  form  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry ;  why  do  you  not  admit  that  this  form  of  the  ministry  is 
necessary  to  the  being  of  the  Visible  Church  ;  insomuch  that 
bodies,  destitute  of  this  form  of  the  ministry,  do  not  belong  to 
the  Church,  as  visible  and  Catholic  1  The  question  is  fair  and 
ought  to  be  answered. 

I  reply,  then  ;  first,  because  our  Church  does  not  trace  this 
threefold  distribution  of  the  ministry  to  Christ,  but  only  to  the 
Apostles.  Second,  because  the  Apostles  themselves  do  not  de- 
monstrate, to  the  clear  satisfaction  of  all  reasonable  minds, 
that  this  threefold  distribution  was  designed,  by  Divine  Right, 
to  confine  the  power  of  ordination  to  the  first  grade,  so  that 
ordination  by  the  second  should,  of  itself,  be  null:  and  third  j 
because  some  of  the  greatest  writers,  both  Romanist  and  Pro- 
testant, have  admitted  the  probability  that  this  power  was  not 
thus  restricted  by  either  Christ  or  His  apostles.  To  this  point, 
I   offer  the   following  brief  quotations.      Cosin,   afterwards 


THE    MINISTRY.  135 

Bishop  of  Durham,  one  of  the  highest,  most  strenuous  advo- 
cates for  Episcopacy,  writes  thus :  "  I  conceive  that  the  power 
of  ordination  was  restrained  to  Bishops,  rather  by  apostolical 
practice  and  the  perpetual  custom  and  canons  of  the  Church, 
than  by  any  absolute  precept,  that  either  Christ  or  His  Apostles 
gave  about  it.  Nor  can  I  yet  meet  with  any  convincing  argu- 
ment to  set  it  upon  a  more  high  and  divine  institution."  Again  : 
"There  have  been  both  learned  and  eminent  men,  as  well  in 
former  ages  as  in  this,  and  even  among  the  Roman  Catholics 
as  well  as  Protestants,  who  have  held  and  maintained  it  for 
good  and  passable  divinity,  that  Presbyters  have  the  intrinsical 
power  of  ordination,  in  actu  primo  ;"  although,  as  he  goes  on 
to  say,  in  substance,  "  for  the  avoidance  of  schism  and  the 
preserving  of  order  and  discipline  in  the  Church,"  they  have, 
from  the  first,  "  been  restrained  from  exercising  their  power, 
in  actu  secundo  ;"  so  that  now  the  exercise  of  their  power  is 
irregular  and  canonically  void  ;  though  "  not  void  simply"  in 
itself,  "  and  in  the  nature  of  the  thing."*  For  this  opinion, 
he  cites  a  catalogue  of  eminent  continental  authors,  both 
Romish  and  Protestant  j  and,  among  the  great  lights  of  the 
English  Church — Jewel,  Field,  Hooker,  and  Mason. 

Such,  then,  in  brief,  and  in  addition  to  what  runs  through 
my  whole  argument,  are  my  reasons  for  regarding  Episcopacy 
as  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  very  being  of  the  Visible 
Church. 

And  now,  should  another  question  be  asked  :  Why,  then,  do 
you  receive  and  insist  on  this  Episcopacy  1  Why  not  relin- 
quish it,  if  it  be  not  wholly  indispensable  1  I  have  this  to 
answer  ;  because,'^the  Apostles,  in  distributing  the  ministry  into 
three  orders,  acted  as  Christ's  chosen  and  inspired  agents. 
These  orders,  therefore,  as  to  the  fact  of  them,  have  the  virtual 
sanction  of  Christ.  The  fact  of  an  Episcopacy,  though  not 
all  the  powers  with  which  some  exclusively  invest  it,  comes 
virtually  from  the  Divine  Head  of  the  Church.  Although, 
therefore,  a  real  necessity  may  have  deprived  some  bodies  of 
the   Episcopacy,   without   thereby   putting   them    out  of  the 

•  Letter  to  Cordel,  in  Hooker's  Col.  FhUad.  1844;  p.  230,  232, 233. 


136  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

Visible  Church,  yet  a  needless,  voluntary  relinquishment  of 
the  Episcopacy  constitutes  one  of  the  forms  of  the  fearful  evil 
of  schism  ;  breaks  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  Church  ;  and 
hazardsdeeply,  if  not  fatally,  all  that  is  precious  in  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  well-being  of  the  visible  Body  of  Christ.  There- 
fore it  is,  to  say  nothing  of  other  reasons,  that  I  do  not  relin- 
quish the  Episcopacy.  Such  an  act,  in  me,  would  be  a  reck- 
less wounding  of  my  Savior  in  the  very  house  of  His  friends  ! 
This  well-being  of  the  Church  shall  be  further  considered, 
in  my  next  discourse. 


DISCOURSE  IX. 


"  That  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  Body." — I  Cor.  xii ;  25. 


The  Church  is  the  Body  of  Christ.  As  true,  holy  and 
Catholic,  it  is  His  spiritual  or  mystical  Body  ;  and  as  developed 
under  needful  forms,  it  is  His  visible  Body  j  so  called  from 
analogy,  and  the  serving  of  the  outward  to  the  inward. 

The  Visible  Church,  of  which  we  are  now  treating,  has  its 
being,  and  its  well-being.  In  its  being,  it  comprehends  essen- 
tials only  ;  in  its  well-being,  it  comprehends,  with  these  essen- 
tials, what  is  requisite  to  their  best  condition.  Those  essen- 
tials are  ;  Christ,  the  Spirit,  and  the  body  of  members,  under 
the  true  Gospel  and  sacraments.  This  requisite  to  their  best 
condition  is,  the  "  setting  of  all  the  members  in  the  body," 
each  in  its  proper  place,  the  higher  and  the  lower,  the  ministry 
and  the  people  j  so  that  there  shall  be  none  wanting,  and  none 
dislocated  ;  all  the  parts  rightly  put  together,  and  all  sustain- 
ing, helping,  and  perfecting  all,  in  comfort,  growth,  and  action. 
This  latter  is  the  Visible  Church,  in  its  well-being ;  in  its  best 
health,  as  well  as  in  its  essential  life. 

The  distinction  here  taken  between  the  being  and  the  well- 
being  of  the  Church,  between  the  Church  itself  and  the  min- 
istry of  the  Church,  is  all-important.  The  Visible  Church  is 
the  whole  outward  Body  of  Christ.  The  ministry  is  but  a 
service  of  peculiar  members  "  set  in  it"  for  its  best  health  and 
action.     The  Church  may  have  this  ministry  perfect,  or  im- 


138  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

perfect ;  or,  so  far  as  the  human  hand  of  ordination  is  con- 
cerned, it  may,  by  possibility,  have  no  ministry  at  all  ;  and, 
according  as  it  is  in  one,  or  another  of  these  conditions,  it  will 
realize,  more  or  less  perfectly,  its  true  welfare  ;  but,  in  its 
worst  condition,  it  will  still  be,  the  Church,  the  Visible  Church 
of  Ci  rist  in  all  the  earth.  This  distinction,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  vital  in  settling  the  question,  "What  is  the  true  compre- 
hension of  the  Visible  Church  V 

But  now,  as  to  this  ministry  of  the  Church.  In  its  fulness, 
there  are  two  things  about  it ;  its  inward  gift,  and  its  outward 
commission.  The  inward  gift  is  immediately  and  always  from 
the  Spirit  to  the  individual.  Its  bestowraent  needs  no  outward 
hand  ;  no  outward  hand  conveys  it.  It  is  indispensable  in 
constituting  the  true  minister  of  Christ ;  nor  does  it  ever  fail 
to  reach  him,  for  whom  it  is  sent.  It  never  falls,  by  chance, 
on  the  wrong  head.  The  outward  commission  is  originally 
from  Christ,  but  mediately  through  the  hands  of  His  first  Apos- 
tles. Coming  thus  through  human  agency,  and  amid  human 
fallibilities,  it  is  not  always  accompanied  by  the  inward  gift. 
It  does  often  fall  on  the  wrong  head.  Still,  it  is  Christ's  com- 
mission 5  and  though  some  bear  it  who  ought  not,  yet  none 
can  bear  it  rightly,  but  such  as  bear  it  lawfully.  As  it  hath 
been  committed  to  the  Apostles'  hands,  so  should  it  be  trans- 
mitted according  to  the  Apostles'  rule. 

At  the  close  of  my  last  discourse,  I  professed  my  faith  in 
these  points  following:  that,  in  transmitting  this  outward 
commission,  the  Apostles,  for  order's  sake  and  discipline,  dis- 
tributed it  over  a  ministry  of  three  grades  ;  that  thus  Episcopacy 
became,  every  where,  from  apostolic  time,  the  model  of  the 
Christian  ministry  ;  that  thus,  though  it  be  not  of  the  essence 
of  the  Church,  yet  hath  it  virtually  Christ's  sanction  ;  and  that, 
therefore,  voluntarily  and  needlessly  to  abandon  it  is  rashly  to 
incur  the  hazard  of  the  fearful,  perhaps  fatal  evil  of  schism. 
Now,  this  evil  of  schism  is  opposed  to  the  well-being  of  the 
Church  ;  and  hence,  in  speaking  of  this  well-being,  it  becomes 
desirable  to  know  what  is  meant  by  schism.  This,  then,  is  the 
topic  on  which  I  am  now  to  enter.  Schism:  What  is  if? 
What  are  its  evils  1  and  how  may  these  evils  be  cured  1 


SCHISM  :    ITS  NATURE.  139 

I.  What,  then,  is  Schism  1 

On  this  point  we  need  clear  ideas.  Bad  as  this  evil  may- 
be, it  embarrasses  all  inquiry  to  make  it  worse  than  it  is.  Some 
appear  to  think  that  schism  cuts  off  from  the  Body  of  Christ, 
and  leaves  the  exscinded  part  to  die,  to  perish,  as  something 
utterly  out  of  the  Church  ;  not,  indeed,  that  every  individual, 
involved  in  schism,  is  necessarily  left  to  perish  everlastingly  ; 
but,  that  the  mass  of  individuals,  thus  involved,  is  actually 
left  to  perish  ecclesiastically,  as  something  no  longer  in,  or  of, 
the  Church.  This  idea  of  schism  sometimes  comes  out  in  print ; 
though  generally  it  is  rather  the  practical  inference  of  unthink- 
ing men,  from  the  extravagant  colors  in  which  their  teachers 
paint  the  sin  of  schism.  But,  in  whatever  shape  it  comes,  it 
is  a  false  idea.  Schism  separates  not  from  the  Church.  To 
see  the  truth  of  this,  let  us  look  at  it.  What  is  the  thing  itself? 
In  what  are  we  to  find  its  essence  % 

By  inspection  of  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  find  that  it  is  not 
a  severance  from  the  unity  of  the  Church,  but  a  disturbance  of 
its  union  ;  not  a  loss  of  Church  essence,  but  a  breach  upon 
Church  love. 

In  the  passage  now  under  consideration,  the  Apostle  teaches, 
"  that  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  Body."  Schism,  then, 
exists  in  the  Body,  in  the  Church  ;  instead  of  cutting  off  from 
the  body,  and  putting  forth  of  the  Church :  and  what  this 
something  in  the  Church  is,  we  learn  from  what  follows  : 
"  That  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  Body ;  but  that  the 
members  should  have  the  same  care,  one  for  another.  And 
whether  one  member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it^"; 
or,  one  member  be  honored,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it."* 
Schism,  then,  is  the  opposite  of  this  mutual  care,  this  loving 
sympathy  of  all  the  members  for  and  with  each  other.  It  is  a 
non-intercourse,  a  lack  of  mutual  care,  a  loss  of  loving  sympa- 
thy, among  the  members  of  the  same  body.  It  is,  as  I  said,  a 
disturbance  of  the  Church's  union  ;  a  breach  upon  the  Church's 
love.  As  such,  it  is  in  and  of  the  Church  itself:  and  this, 
perhaps,  is  one  of  the  saddest  of  its  features.     It  is  in  the 

*  I  Cor.  xii;  25,  et  seq. 


140  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

Church,  Avhere  all  should  be  harmony.     It  is  among  brother- 
members,  whose  highest  law  should  be  Love  ! 

That  this  is  the  true  idea  of  schism,  as  to  the  subject  in 
which  it  exists,  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  passage  just 
explained,  with  other  passages. 

1.  In  some  places  the  Greek  word  is  used  in  its  verbal  form. 
Thus,  at  the  Crucifixion,  the  vail  of  the  temple  is  said  to  have 
been  "  rent  in  twain,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom."*  That  vail 
was  then  in  a  state  of  physical  schism.  It  was  "rent ;"  in  the 
idea  of  the  original,  it  suffered  a  schism.  And  yet,  by  that 
schism,  the  parts  did  not,  either  of  them,  cease  to  belong  to 
the  one  vail.  The  whole  mystic  curtain  then  consisted  of  its 
two  parts.     It  was  simply  a  rent,  a  schismed  vail. 

2.  A  similar  use  of  the  word  occurs  in  describing  the  baptis- 
mal scene  at  Jordan.  "  Coming  up  from  the  water,"  Jesus 
"saw  the  heavens  opened;"  rent,  like  a  torn  curtain. f  And 
yet,  they  were  but  one  heavens.  The  visible  schism  did  not 
make  them  two  j  nor  did  it  put  the  one  side  of  the  rent  out  of 
heaven. 

3.  In  other  places,  we  find  the  word  used  in  its  substantive 
form.  Thus,  in  one  of  the  parables,  "No  man  putteth  a  piece 
of  new  cloth  unto  an  old  garment ;  for  that  which  is  put  in  to 
fill  it  up,  taketh  from  the  garment,  and  the  rent  is  made  worse. "J 
Literally,  "  the  schism  is  made  worse."  And  yet,  at  worst,  it 
is  but  a  schism  in  the  garment.  It  is  never  a  casting  away  of 
a  part,  so  that  it  ceases  to  be  a  part  of  the  garment. 

4.  And  so,  to  come  nearer  the  subject ;  when,  on  several 
occasions,  the  discourses  of  Christ  had  set  the  Jews  at  fierce 
reasoning  among  themselves,  it  is  said,  "  there  was  a  division 
among  the  people  because  of  Him."  "  There  was  a  division 
among  them."  "  There  was  a  division  again  among  the  Jews 
for  these  sayings. "§  Literally,  there  was,  on  all  these  occa- 
sions, a  schism  among  the  Jews  ;  not  a  cutting  off  of  a  portion, 
so  that  they  ceased  to  be  Jews.  Their  harmony  of  opinion 
was  disturbed ;   and,  for  the  moment,  their  love  cooled  under 


•  Matt,  xxvii ;  51,  et  paral.  f  Mark  i ;  10.  t  Matt,  ix ;  16,  et  paral. 

§  John  vii ;  43. — ii  ;  16 — .x ;  19. 


SCHISM  :    ITS  NATURE.  141 

hot  disputings  ;  but  they  all  remained  Jews,  notwithstanding 
their  schisms. 

5.  And  finally,  to  come  nearer  still ;  to  passages,  in  which 
the  word  means  religious  schism.  St.  Paul  beseeches  his  Co- 
rinthian "  brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
they  all  speak  the  same  thing  ;  that  there  be  no  divisions," 
literally,  "  no  schisms.,  among  them  ;  but  that  they  be  perfectly 
joint- d  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment."* 
"  I  hear,"  says  he,  "  that  there  be  divisions,"  schisms,  "  among 
you."t  Now,  here,  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  perfectly  man- 
ifest. The  Apostle  was  addressing  a  part  of  the  Church  which 
was  full  of  schism,  wicked  schism,  the  worst  kind  of  schism  ; 
schism  right  under  the  eye  of  an  Apostle,  and  in  the  young 
heart  itself  of  the  Church.  He  was  rebuking  those  who  had 
already  begun  to  set  up,  some  for  Paul,  some  for  Apollos,  some 
for  Cephas,  and  some  for  Christ ;  who  were  getting  up  a  non- 
intercourse,  and  losing  their  mutual  care,  and  forgetting  their 
loving  sympathy,  for  and  with  each  other,  in  their  unholy 
jealousy  and  zeal  for  building  up  Paul's  party,  and  Apollos's 
party,  and  Peter's  party,  and  even  Christ's  party,  and  striving 
to  see  which  could  make  their  own  most  popular  and  most  nu- 
merous. And  yet,  he  addressed  them  all  as  his  "  brethren," 
and  besought  them  all,  by  the  dearest  of  names,  that  they 
would  heal  all  their  schisms,  and  live  in  the  oneness  of  an  all- 
cementing  love  for  the  common  truth,  and  for  their  common 
Lord.  He  spoke  of  their  schisms  as  being  "  among"  them ; 
and  not  as  cutting  off  Paul's  party,  or  Apollos's  party,  or  Pe- 
ter's party,  from  Christ  and  from  His  Church,  and  leaving  the 
part  cut  off  as  no  longer  a  portion  of  the  Savior's  Body.  He 
treated  schism  as  a  thing  which  was  in  the  Body,  which 
belonged  to  the  Body,  and  in  which  every  part  of  the  Body 
was  most  tenderly  concerned.  It  was  a  direful  evil  j  and  so 
far  as  his  prayers  could  go,  he  would  not  have  it  in  the  Church 
of  Christ. 

The  question,  What  is  schism  1  can  now  be  answered.  It 
is  a  rent,  a  wound,  in  the  visible  Body  of  our   Lord,  Christ. 

•  I  Cor.  i ;  10.  f  I  Cor.  xi ;  18. 


142  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

It  is  a  rupture  of  His  Church's  harmony,  a  breach  upon  His 
Church's  love.  It  generally  arises  out  of  too  curious  disputes 
about  disputable,  perhaps  trifling,  matters  of  opinion  and  judg- 
ment. Sometimes  it  grows  out  of  the  heats  of  personal  prefer- 
ences, or  of  party  ambitions.  And  it  always — perhaps  the 
■word  may  be  safely  used — always  ends  irf  non-intercourse, 
jealousies,  and  strifes  ;  the  internal  dissensions  of  a  family,  that 
ought  ever  to  "  live  in  perfect  love  and  peace  together." 
Such  is  schism ;  a  melancholy  rent ;  perhaps  it  were  better  to 
say,  a  sore-festering  wound,  in  the  visible  Body  of  Christ.  One 
of  its  worst  characteristics  is,  that  it  is  in  the  Body.  And  yet, 
this  worst  reveals  its  best — that  it  is  not  fatal  to  the  Body. 
Individuals  may,  peradventure,  perish  everlastingly  for  foment- 
ing the  evil  of  schism  ;  but,  thanks  be  to  God,  their  schism 
itself  destroyeth  not  the  visible  Body  of  the  Redeemer.  Yea, 
let  Christ  be  glorified,  for  that  these  melancholy  rents  in  the 
vail  of  His  outer  temple  and  in  the  garment  of  His  visible 
Body,  may,  by  the  deft  skill  of  God's  true  workmen,  be 
mended  so  as  never  more  to  appear ;  and  that  the  schismed 
firmament  of  His  people's  peace  may  be  closed,  so  that  nothing 
shall  rend,  or  pass  it  again,  save,  as  of  old,  the  dove-like  Spirit 
of  God,  dropping,  silently  and  every  where,  as  the  dew  of 
sweet,  all-baptizing  love  ;  and  that  the  deep  wounds  in  even 
His  outer  flesh  may  all  be  healed  ;  till  in  this  outer,  as  in  His 
inner  Church,  there  shall  be  nought  but  soundness;  a  life  in 
every  part,  and  a  helping  for  each  other  from  all  the  members. 
Everv  passage  which  we  have  examined  shews  that  schism  is 
an  evil  which  may  be  cured ;  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  and 
must  be,  a  fact  in  the  body,  and  not  a  severance  from  the 
body. 

II.  If,  then,  such  be  schism  itself,  what  are  its  evils  1  We 
may  look  at  these  by  way  of  motive  to  the  cure,  which  is 
needed,  and  which,  thank  God  again,  is  possible. 

1.  The  evils  of  schism  !  Who  can  count,  or  estimate  theml 
The  Body  of  Christ  wounded  ;  yea,  "  wounded  in  the  house 
of  His  friends  !"  The  bond  of  sacred  brotherhood  broken  ; 
intestine  broils,  jealousies,  divisions,  and  oppositions  ;  love, 
starved  and  dwarfed,  and  the  unloving  spirit  nursed  to  a  giant  j 


SCHISM  :    ITS   EVILS.  143 

and  all,  among  a  household  of  members,  who  have  one  Gospel, 
the  lively  oracles  of  truth  ;  who  hold  one  Head,  Christ  Jesus, 
the  Lord  ;  and  who  hope  to  be  saved  by  His  death  from  one 
hell,  and  to  be  raised  by  His  life  to  one  heaven !  Here  is  a 
text  for  the  greatest  sermon  that  man  ever  preached !  And 
yet,  the  text  itself,  perhaps,  is  greater  than  any  sermon  on  it 
that  could  be  preached.  Some  things  seem  lessened  by  all 
attempts  to  make  their  greatness  more  than  self-evident !  Look 
at  it,  then,  and  mourn  5  that  broken  bond  of  brotherhood  in  the 
family  of  Jesus ! 

2.  And  then,  that  wound  in  the  Body  of  Christ!  Which 
of  us  would  love  to  drag  about  a  wounded,  bleeding,  almost 
fainting  body  1  Who  could  do  his  day's  work  well  in  such  a 
state — lame,  weak,  tottering  1  Life-blood  is  flowing  from  the 
Body  of  Christ.  It  hath  not  half  its  proper  strength.  It  moves 
feebly  and  slowly.  It  doth  not  well  transact  Christ's  day's 
work  on  the  world's  great  harvest-field  !  It  is  sad  to  think 
on  the  wounds  in  this  Body  of  Christ ! 

3.  Besides  ;  schisms  feed  infidelity.  This  is  specially  true 
in  many  parts  of  our  land.  The  mere  natural  heart  loves  not 
to  coin,  or  pay,  much  money  for  the  Gospel.  In  a  single  vil- 
lage, one  thousand  souls  feel  but  lightly  the  care  of  one  true 
minister  of  Christ ;  but,  if  divided  and  called  to  care  for  four, 
of  jarring  names,  the  burthen  presses  weightily  ;  and  the  natu- 
ral heart  eases  itself  by  stepping  out  from  under  it,  and  leaving 
it  to  press  more  weightily  still  on  the  few  who  remain.  Thus, 
in  time,  many  natural  hearts,  who  might  otherwise  have  been 
reconciled  and  saved,  ease  themselves,  by  stepping  aside  and 
walking  in  none  of  the  ways  of  the  Church.  Then  steps  in 
among  them  the  specious,  covert  infidel,  who  preaches  for 
nothing,  poisons  them  with  his  nothingisms,  and  finally  gathers 
and  bands  them  into  a  synagogue  of  Satan  !  Behold  the 
source  of  much  of  the  rampant  infidelity  of  our  poor  country  ! 

4.  Moreover;  schisms  throw  great  advantages  on  the  side  of 
errors  and  all  superstitions.  Errors  thrive  while  the  friends 
of  truth  are  rent  asunder  by  divisions ;  and  superstitions  grow 
when  truth  itself  is  hidden  amid  the  dust  of  contests.     Such  is 


144  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

the  present  condition  of  the  Christian  world.  Errors  seem  to 
thicken  on  every  hand ;  and  superstition,  with  its  serried  ranks 
ne'er  broken,  draws  thousands  from  our  divided  hosts.  Men  love 
repose  ;  and,  naturally,  feel  little  horror  either  of  religious  errors, 
or  of  religious  darkness.  If,  therefore,  truth  shine  not  clear  and 
calm  ;  if  there  be  always  dust,  and  strife,  and  separations  about 
it,  they  indolently  seek  refuge  in  notions  which  are  quietly 
false,  or  sentimentally  shelter  themselves  under  superstitions, 
which  are  tranquilly  dark.  False  religion  is  more  agreeable 
to  the  natural  heart  than  the  true  ;  and  if  Christians  slay  not 
the  spirit  of  their  schisms,  and  consent  not  to  live  together  in 
love,  and  in  the  heart  of  their  great  common  truths,  nothing 
but  miracles  revived  can  keep  victory  from  the  side  of  error 
and  superstition,  or  save  the  Church  from  being  covered  once 
again  with  the  double  palls  of  falsehood  and  of  darkness. 

Such  is  a  faint  glimpse  at  the  evils  of  schism.  Out  of  them 
God  doubtless  brings  some  good ;  perhaps  He  will  yet  bring 
the  greatest.  Contest  and  divisions  about  the  truth  certainly 
shew  that  some  minds  at  least  are  alive  and  earnest  in  their 
thoughts  about  it ;  and  this  may  be  supposed  to  prognosticate 
truth's  iinal  victory.  And  then,  the  various  divisions  in  the 
Church  may  doubtless  be  set  to  watch  each  other,  so  that  none 
shall  hide,  corrupt,  or  mutilate  the  Gospel.  Moreover,  they 
do  oft  "  provoke  one  another,"  if  not  "  to  love  and  good 
works,"  at  least  to  zeal  and  great  works.  Still,  let  the  wise 
God  make  what  use  of  them  He  please,  schisms,  in  themselves, 
are  unspeakably  evil ;  and  by  the  Bible  itself  we  are  taught  to 
seek  their  cure. 

5.  But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  Episcopacy,  or  the  min- 
istry of  the  Church  %  We  shall  see.  If  Episcopacy  were  the 
model  of  the  ministry,  left  by  apostles  in  the  Church,  and  at 
first  every  where  received  ;  and  if,  having  this  origin,  it  have 
also,  as  1  have  shown,  Christ's  virtual  sanction,  then  voluntarily 
and  needlessly  to  abandon  it,  is  rashly  to  throw  the  Church 
into  hazard  of  all  the  evils  of  schism. 

I  say  not  that  the  mere  lack  of  Episcopacy  in  the  ministry 
is,  in  and  of  itself,  or  independently  of  its  cause,  a  schism  ;  but, 


schism:  its  cure.  145 

that  the  voluntary  and  needless  abandonment  of  the  Episcopacy 
endangers,  and  inevitably  produces  schism.  Such  a  setting  up 
of  new  and  diverse  models  of  the  ministry  unavoidably  puts 
as  many  diverse  masses  of  members  upon  saying  again,  "  1  am 
of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,  and  I  of  Christ ;" 
and,  out  of  these  contests,  it  breeds  all  that  I  have  spoken  of 
as  mischievous  and  full  of  evil.  A  loss  of  the  Episcopacy,  or 
even  of  all  ministry,  so  far  as  the  ministry  comes  by  the  hand 
of  human  ordination,  is  not  the  loss  of  the  Church  itself:  for 
the  ministry  is  in  the  Church,  and  not  the  Church  in  the  min- 
istry. But,  Episcopacy  having  apostolic  origin,  adherence  to 
it,  where  possible,  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  expediency;  it  is  a 
matter  of  duty  ;  due  to  the  cause  of  peace  and  order,  and  the 
Church's  rule. 

III.  But,  if  such  be  the  evils  of  schism,  and  such  the  way  in 
which  they  have  grown,  in  part  not  in  whole,  from  an  aban- 
donment of  the  apostolic  model  of  the  ministry ;  it  is  of  high 
importance  to  settle,  so  far  as  we  may,  the  question  ;  How 
may  these  evils  be  cured  1 

In  asking  this  question,  I  now  take  these  evils  and  their 
cause  as  facts.  I  go  not  back  to  the  inquiry  ;  Who  made  all 
our  schisms  ]  It  is  enough  to  know  that  they  have  been  made 
by  many  hands,  and  with  many  motives  ;  that  a  departure  from 
the  Episcopacy  is  but  one  among  a  tliousand  of  this  evil's 
springs  ;  that,  in  many  if  not  most  of  the  schisms  which  have 
happened,  both  sides  have  been  more  or  less  in  fault ;  and  that, 
in  some  cases,  the  separation  has  been  justifiable,  in  so  far  as  it 
has  been  forced  on  the  separating  party  not  only  as  the  lesser 
of  two  evils,  but  as  the  only  possible  resort,  this  side  a  traitor- 
ous abandonment  of  truth,  of  conscience,  and  of  Christ.  It 
is  enough  for  us  to  know  these  things.  Our  main  business  is 
with  the  facts  themselves,  and  not  v/ith  their  origin.  The 
facts  exist:  they  are  evils;  and  yet,  they  are  curable  evils: 
How  may  they  be  cured  1  This  is  the  only  reasonable  ques- 
tion now  before  us. 

To  this  question,  then,  I  reply.  They  are  to  be  cured,  not 
by  attempting  to  obliterate  all  the  dividing  lines,  which  have 
10 


146  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

been  drawn  through  the  Church  ;  they  are  probably  too  deep 
ever  to  be  obliterated  in  this  world  ;  but  by  outliving,  over- 
coming, and  extinguishing  the  spirit,  in  which  they  were 
engendered,  by  which  they  are  cherished,  and  from  which 
they  draw  their  chief  power  for  mischief.  In  the  view  which 
the  Bible  gives  of  schism,  as  a  rent,  or  wound  in  the  Body  of 
Christ,  which  is  His  Church,  it  is  plain  that  we  must  cease  to 
regard  and  speak  of  non-Episcopal  communions  as  not  belong- 
ing to  the  Visible  Church.  It  is  not  by  pronouncing  this  de- 
cision over  them,  while  we  ourselves  are  inquiring  after  a  way 
of  union  with  Rome,  that  this  deep-seated  evil  in  the  Church  is 
to  be  cured.  In  the  first  place,  the  decision  itself,  however 
fond  some  may  be  of  uttering  it,  is  unfounded,  and  does  but 
imbitter  those  whom  we  ought  to  win.  They  are  not  out  of 
the  Church.  The  very  schisms  between  them  and  us  are  in 
the  Church.  They  are  but  the  wounds  in  this  visible  Body  of 
our  Redeemer ;  and  the  spirit,  in  which  some  treat  these 
wounds,  does  but  inflame  them  the  more,  or  make  them  bleed 
the  more  profusely.  And  in  the  next  place,  the  union  with 
Rome,  with  the  idea  of  which  many  have  become  so  deeply 
enamored,  does  but  provoke  her  derision,  so  long  as  we 
refuse  to  acknowledge  her  infallibility  and  to  submit  to  her 
supremacy.  This  whole  course,  therefore,  can  but  make  us 
hated,  or  pitied,  on  the  one  side  ;  and  despised,  or  ridiculed, 
on  the  other.  We  must  quit  it,  or  make  the  spirit,  as  well  as 
the  name  of  schism,  indelible ! 

In  looking  on  the  visible  Body  of  Christ,  all  wounded  and 
weakened  as  it  is,  some  act  as  if  they  thought  its  cure  were  to 
be  effected  by  continually  thrusting  into  its  wounds  the  rough 
and  rusty  irons  of  their  exclusive  and  excluding  claims.  It 
will  not  do.  It  can  but  aggravate  the  evil,  and  bring  on  all 
but  death.  Were  I  to  urge  a  remedy,  it  should  be  this.  If 
these  wounds  are  to  be  probed  at  all,  let  it  be  with  nothing 
but  the  Spirit's  soft  and  healing  ray  of  Life  :  for  the  rest,  let 
a  mollifying  preparation  of  kind  offices  and  peaceful  deeds  be 
laid  on,  to  remove  all  inflammation,  and  to  induce  a  healing 
state.    Then  lay  across  the  wounds  the  adhesive  bands  of  love^. 


SCHISM  :   ITS  CURE.  147 

draw  the  parts  gently  but  closely  together,  and  leave  the  in- 
ward, healing  life  of  the  spirit  to  perfect  the  blessed  work. 
Then,  the  still  remaining  scar-lines  from  the  name  of  schism 
would  not  be  disfiguringly  deep  ;  while  the  poison  vii'ulence 
of  schism  would  all  be  gone  ;  the  Body  of  Christ,  whole  and 
sound  again  ;  its  many  parts  and  its  many  members,  bound 
in  living  union,  each  helping  each,  and  all  made  one  in  per- 
fect, generous,  holy  sympathy  !  God  send  His  Spirit  from  on 
high  to  speed  this  divine  recovery  of  His  Church ! 

In  this  mode  of  cure,  I  recommend  no  indifference  to  im- 
portant and  distinctive  truths  and  principles,  even  though  they 
be  not  fundamental;  no  blending  of  other  outward  institutions 
with  our  own  ;  and  no  breaking  down  of  our  own,  by  way  of 
showing  our  respect  for  others.  What  I  mean  is  this  ;  that 
every  part  of  the  Church  should  freely  acknowledge  that  all 
the  other  parts  belong,  as  really  as  itself,  to  the  visible  Body  of 
Christ ;  that  each  should  then  fill  his  providentially  appointed 
lot  with  peaceful  and  toilfuUy  active  love  ;  and  that  all,  with 
consenting  prayer  to  God,  should  seek  the  residue  of  the  Spirit 
in  its  fulness,  and  labor  to  "  grow  up  into  Christ  in  all  things, 
which  is  the  Head."  This,  I  believe,  is  God's  way  to  heal  the 
wounds  in  His  Church  ;  and,  in  this  way,  alone,  can  "the whole 
Body,  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that,  which  every 
joint  supplieth,  make,  in  the  measure  of  every  single  part,  an 
increase  of  the  Body  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  Love." 

This  gracious  consummation  the  writer  and  his  reader  may 
never  live  to  see.  But  it  is  not  a  chimera — a  thing  to  be  talked 
of,  but  not  hoped  for.  It  is  God's  purposed  blessing  to  His 
Church.  It  waits  to  descend ;  and  we  may  labor,  and  should 
seek  to  hasten,  or  to  realize,  its  coming  down.  In  doing  so, 
we  are  drawing  in  a  line  with  all  God's  plans  and  influences, 
and  not  at  cross-purposes  with  both  His  Gospel  and  His  Spirit. 
In  all  main,  essential  truths,  all  Christians  may,  as  the  apostle 
expresses  the  idea  in  a  passage  already  quoted,  "  speak  the 
same  thing,  and  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind 
and  in  the  same  judgment."  Perfect  uniformity  of  opinion  in 
all  things,  especially  in  all  things  touching  outward  institutes. 


148  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

was  never  intended  of  God,  and  can  never  be  enforced,  or 
secured  by  man.  The  great,  vital  sun-truths  of  the  Gospel, — 
these  are  the  only  ones  that  can  be  made  to  shine,  in  the  main, 
alike  on  all  minds  ;  and  it  is  by  feeling  the  shining  of  these 
alone,  made  quickening  by  the  Holy  One,  that  all  Christians 
can  be  melted  into  the  oneness  of  love,  and  made  fruitful  in 
the  blessings  of  peace  and  truth. 

In  my  next  discourse,  I  hope  to  close  what  I  have  yet  to 
say  of  this  whole  subject,  so  far  as  it  embraces  the  argument 
for  the  true  comprehension  of  the  Church. 


DISCOURSE  X. 


"  Many  members,  yet  but  one  Body." — I  Cor.  xii  j  20. 


This  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  universal  defini- 
tions of  the  Church  of  Christ,  whether  in  its  inward  and 
spiritual,  or  in  its  outward  and  visible  being.  In  both  aspecte, 
it  is  "  many  members,  yet  but  one  Body. 

In  my  last  discourse,  I  spoke  of  schism,  as  a  sad  and  disturb- 
ing; fact,  existing  in  the  Church.  I  feel  that  it  would  not  be 
right  to  close  the  argument  on  the  comprehension  of  the  Church 
without  speaking  of  Unity  also,  as  a  blessed  and  binding  fact, 
co-existing  in  the  Church.  That  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the 
Unity  of  the  Church,  none  will  doubt ;  for  it  is  involved  in 
the  very  idea  of  the  Church.  Christ,  the  Head,  prayed  for  it 
in  His  last  great  intercessory  prayer  on  earth ;  when  He  asked 
for  His  disciples,  in  all  places  and  through  all  time,  "  that  they 
all  may  be  One  ;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee, 
that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us."*  And  that  prayer  has  never 
returned  into  His  bosom  void.  It  went  up  to  be  answered,  not 
to  be  denied ;  and  it  has  been  answered,  and  to  the  end  shall  con- 
tinue un-denied.  This  unity  belongs  to  the  whole  subject, 
which  I  have  been  examining  ;  the  true  comprehension  of  the 
Church.  In  this  comprehension,  the  Church  necessarily  em- 
braces her  own  Unity. 

But  what  is  this  Unity  1  This  is  the  great  question  of  our 
age  5  and  it  is  a  question,  upon  which,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the 

^  •John,  xvii;  21. 


150  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

discussions  of  the  age  are  bringing  darkness  ratlier  than  light. 
I  pray  God  for  his  grace,  that  some  one  may  bring  it,  if  not 
into  perfect  light,  at  least  out  of  the  thick  darkness.  Whether 
the  present  effort,  shall  contribute  towards  this  latter  result, 
will  all  depend  on  the  vouchsafement  of  His  heavenly  guid- 
ance. 

Unity,  then,  may  be  considered  as  an  attribute  both  of  the 
Spiritual  and  of  the  Visible  Church. 

1.  It  is  an  attribute  of  the  Spiritual  Church  ;  of  the  true  and 
holy  Church  Catholic,  of  which  I  have  spoken  so  much.  And 
this,  as  I  conceive,  is,  in  its  highest,  fullest  sense,  the  unity  for 
which  Christ  praj^ed,  on  the  occasion  already  referred  to.  It 
is  that  unity,  which  in  the  one  living  Body,  the  one  'Com- 
munion of  Saints,"  binds  every  true  believer  to  Christ,  the 
Divine  Head,  by  the  bond  of  the  one,  true  Scriptural  faith  ;  a 
faith  shewing  its  vitalizing  life  in  one,  holy,  universal  love. 
This  blessed  unity  has  never  been  broken.  It  lies  above  the 
reach,  and  therefore  beyond  the  touch,  of  earth's  disturbing 
causes.  In  its  very  essence  this  unity  is  indestructible.  In 
the  spiritual  bond,  by  which  it  unites  the  soul  with  her  Savior, 
and  the  Christian  to  his  brother  Christian  ;  it  is  as  intangible 
by  the  hand  of  outward  events  as  the  soul  herself  is  by  the 
hand  of  Death !  I  repeat,  it  is  above  the  reach  of  such  dis- 
turbing causes.  It  is  linked  with  the  life  that  is  "  hid  with  Christ 
in  God."  This  unity  is  like  the  one,  deep-starred  h.  aven, 
above  the  clouds  and  storms  of  earth.  Get  above  these  ele- 
ments, and  what  do  we  seel  The  one  great  heaven,  thick- 
studded  with  separate  star-worlds  ;  the  countless  congregation 
of  heaven's  radiances,  looking  down  in  the  blendings  (  f  one 
sweet,  noiseless,  and  most  pure  brightness  upon  our  dark  state: 
the  one,  vast,  upward  Deep,  lying  calm,  silent,  moveless,  and 
unbroken  above  the  earth,  its  clouds,  and  its  storms.  The 
winds,  and  lightnings,  and  thunders,  and  volcanic  tiros,  and 
earthquake  throes,  which  appal  our  senses,  may,  from  tune  to 
time,  agitate  the  nether  surface  of  that  high  blue  sea ;  but 
they  have  not  power  to  roll  up  and  break  that  one  eternal  calm 
of  heaven-light,  in  which  it  lies.  Great  emblem  of  Ih.  unity 
of  Christ's  one,  holy  Catholic  Church!     Many  lights    in  but 


UNITY.  151 

one  heaven !  "  Many  members  in  but  one  Body  !"  A  sea 
of  life,  whose  clear  depths  penetrate  upwards  unto  God  ;  and 
whose  downward  surface  can  never  be  more  than  rippled  by 
the  mistakes,  misunderstandings,  and  consequent  un-harmonies 
of  true  Christian  brethren  ! 

This  unity,  because  thus  spiritual,  is  not  therefore  unreal. 
Every  true  believer  lives  in  it  daily,  and  daily  enjoys  its  verity. 
Ask  him  whether  the  controversies,  agitations,  and  schisms, 
which  make  earth  so  unquiet,  ever  break,  or  touch  the  bond 
which  binds  him  to  Christ,  or  the  tie  which  ties  him  to  any 
known  brother  in  Christ.  Ask  him,  and  lie  will  answer, — 
"  Thank  God,  this  is  a  thing  which  no  hand  can  reach  but 
God's  hand ;  and  which  even  His  hand  reaches  but  to  strengthen 
and  to  perfect !"  Wherever,  and  to  whomsoever,  among  the 
great  company  of  the  faithful,  that  question  is  asked,  this  will 
be  the  answer ;  and  in  this  answer  comes  a  living  demonstra- 
tion of  the  truth,  that  Christ's  last,  great  prayer,  went  up  to  be 
heard,  has  been  heard,  and  shall  be  heard  ever ;  "  that  they  all 
may  be  one  ;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that 
they  also  may  be  one  in  us." 

Upon  this  unity,  however,  after  what  has  been  said  touching 
that  holy  Church  in  which  it  resides,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
dwell.  The  difficulty  of  this  part  of  the  subject  lies  elsewhere, 
as  we  shall  see,  when  we  come  to  my  second  remark.  I 
observe,  then, 

2.  Unity  is  an  attribute  even  of  the  Visible  Church.  This 
unity,  however,  bears  but  an  analogy  with  that  of  which  I 
have  just  spoken.  That  it  exists,  I  firmly  hold.  I  believe 
that  Christ's  prayer  has  been  answered  to  even  His  Visible 
Church.  This  Church,  too,  though  it  consist  emphatically  of 
"  many  members,"  is  yet  "  but  one  Body."  To  see  the  truth  of 
this,  it  will  be  desirable  to  explain  in  what  this  visible  unity 
does  not  consist ;  and  then,  in  what  it  does  consist.  First, 
then  : 

I.  In  what  the  Unity  of  the  Visible  Church  does  not  consist. 

1.  It  docs  not  consist,  and  was  never  designed  to  consist,  in 
the  subjection  of  all  the  members  to  one  temporal  head.  The 
Romanist's  plea  in  favor  of  the  unity,  here  denied,  is  but  one 


152  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

great,  and  baseless  assumption.  Even  if  the  fiction  of  St. 
Peter's  primacy,  in  the  College  of  Apostles,  could  be  con- 
verted into  a  fact,  it  would  make  nothing  towards  the  conclu- 
sion, that  the  unity  of  the  Church  consists  in  acknowledging 
him,  or  any  other  human  being,  as  temporal  head  of  the  Church. 
The  Church  is  a  Body  ;  and  as  a  body,  has  but  one  head,  in 
heaven,  or  on  earth ;  it  is  not  a  xwo-headed  body.  The  Apos- 
tles have  eminence  among  the  members  of  the  Body  ;  but 
they  themselves  are  in  the  Church,  only  because  they  are 
"set  in  that  Body,"  which,  as  one  whole,  is  all  united  to  its 
one  Head,  Christ.  Even,  therefore,  if  there  were  such  a  thing 
as  a  primate  among  the  Apostles,  this  would  not  constitute  him 
temporal  head  of  the  Church,  but  only  chief  of  the  Apostles. 
Nor  would  it  make  the  unity  of  the  Church  consist  in  being 
united  to  him  ;  for  the  members  of  the  body  ecclesiastical  are 
no  more  united  to  the  apostolic  eye  than  they  are  to  the  ple- 
beian foot.  Its  unity  consists  in  this  ;  that  it  is  all  one  Body, 
under  one  Head,  Christ.  The  first  Christians,  indeed,  "  con- 
tinued in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship  :"  and  so  must 
all  Christians,  To  reject  the  Apostles'  "  doctrine,"  is  to  reject 
the  whole  Gospel ;  and  to  renounce  their  "  fellowship,"  is  to 
renounce  "  the  Communion  of  Saints ;"  and  he,  who  does 
either  the  one  or  the  other  of  these,  is  no  Christian,  and,  of 
course,  not  in  the  Church.  But,  we  may  "  continue  in  the 
Apostle's  doctrine,"  and  in  their  "  fellowship,"  too,  without 
acknowledging  any  one  of  them,  or  any  alleged  successor  of 
that  one,  as  temporal  head  of  the  Church,  even  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  that  one  was  primate  over  the  rest.  But  there  was  no 
such  primate.  The  Apostles  were  official  equals.  The  theory, 
therefore,  of  a  temporal  head  of  the  Church,  is  based  on  a 
double  fallacy,  and  the  Romanist's  idea  of  unity  is  a  double 
fiction. 

Such  a  visible  unity  never  has  been,  and  never  will  be. 
The  theory,  on  which  it  is  based,  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with 
fact,  no  less  than  with  argum.ent.  The  Visible  Church  of 
Christ  has  never  acknowledged  one  temporal  head  ;  and  it 
never  will.  Nearly  two  thousand  years  of  Christian  history 
have  put  the  realization  of  the  idea  among  impossibilities. 


VISIBLE   UNITY.  153 

Such  an  external  unity,  it  is  true,  once  came  near  being  re- 
alized ;  but,  the  nearer  it  came,  the  more  corrupt  and  dead 
grew  the  Church,  till,  at  length,  it  became  a  great  kingdom  of 
this  world,  whose  manifested  life  was  but  intense  spiritual 
death !  Could  such  a  unity  be  ever  effected,  could  Rome's 
dream  be  ever  made  a  fact, — a  permanent  fact  over  all  the 
earth, — who  can  doubt  that  it  would  virtually  give  "  the  god 
of  this  world  "  a  life-lease  of  its  kingdoms  in  Christ's  name  1 

The  worst  evils,  that  have  ever  fallen  on  the  temporal 
state  of  the  Church,  have  resulted  from  Rome's  attempts  to  en- 
force this  external  unity,  this  universal  submission  to  one  tem- 
poral head.  Blood,  and  fire,  and  earth-embroiling  contests, 
have  certified  that  the  Church  was  not  made  for  such  submis- 
sion. Even  christianized  humanity,  as  the  holiest  visible  hand 
of  God,  fights  against  such  a  unity,  and  hath  broken  its  begun 
fabric  in  pieces,  like  a  potter's  vessel,  whereof  the  sherds  can- 
not be  put  together. 

2.  Again:  the  unity  of  the  Visible  Church  does  not  consist 
in  subjection  to  one  universal  form  of  Church  government,  and 
ecclesiastical  law,  as  administered  by  men.  The  only  supreme 
government  in  the  Church  is  Christ's  ;  and  the  only  supreme 
law  is  His  Word.  All  other  government  and  law  are  not  of  the 
Chuich's  being,  but  only  of  her  greater  or  less  well-being.  They 
may,  therefore,  be  modified,  or  changed,  without  touching  the 
essential  unity  of  the  Church.  As  a  nation  may  have  different 
forms  of  government  in  different  ages ;  or  different  forms,  at  the 
same  time,  over  its  different  parts ;  and  yet  be,  all  the  while,  but 
one  nation ;  provided,  in  the  latter  case,  all  the  parts  acknowl- 
edge one  supreme  authority  ;  so  ie  it  in  the  Church.  The  cen- 
tral and  supreme  authority  of  Christ  and  His  Word  preserves 
its  unity,  notwithstanding  the  div(!rsities  in  the  forms  of  sub- 
ordinate government,  which  prevail.  Change  of  government 
may  amount  to  revolution  ;  and  revolution  may  be  fraught 
with  unspeakable  evils  j  but  they  do  not  destroy  the  body, 
whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical,  in  which  they  occur.  It  re- 
mains true,  then,  that  what  constitutes  the  Church  one,  what 
makes  its  unity,  is  not  a  universal  submission  to  one  form  of 
ecclesiastical  government  and  law. 


154  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

3.  Once  more  :  the  unity  of  the  Visible  Church  does  not 
consist  in  a  universal  subordination  to  one  form  of  the  ministry. 
The  ministry  itself,  as  we  have  seen,  is  not  of  the  essence,  but 
only  of  the  order  and  fulness,  of  the  Church ;  as  the  eye,  ear, 
and  hand  are  not  essential  to  the  being,  but  only  to  the  com- 
pleteness and  perfectness  of  the  body.  The  universal  preva- 
lence, therefore,  of  one  form  of  the  ministry  cannot  be  that,  in 
which  the  unity  of  the  Visible  Church  consists ;  that,  Avhich 
constitutes  this  Church  one  Body,  It  may  be  requisite  to  the 
harmony,  and  the  best  welfare,  of  this  Church ;  to  that  slate, 
in  which  there  shall  be  "  no  schism  in  the  Body  ;"  but  not  to 
the  existence  of  the  Body  itself.  The  Body  may  really  be 
one,  though  in  a  very  wounded,  and  a  very  weakened  state. 
Rejection  of  what  we  believe  to  have  been  the  apostolic  model 
of  the  Christian  ministry  may  prove  the  severest  wound,  which 
the  visible  Body  of  Christ  can  receive,  compatibly  with  its 
continuance  in  life.  And  yet,  that  it  may  be  received  com- 
patibly with  such  continuance  we  see,  by  what  we  regard  as 
sad,  melancholy  experience.  The  Protestant  Reformation,  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  one  of  the  greatest  facts  in  the  Church 
since  the  time  of  Christ,  would  be  an  unsolvable  enigma  on 
the  contrary  supposition.  By  what  may  be  considered  an  un- 
avoidable necessity,  in  the  order  of  God's  Sovereign  Provi- 
dence, that  Reformation  resulted  in  a  local  loss  of  the  Episco- 
pacy from  the  ministry.  To  say  that  God  was  concerned,  not 
merely  in  permitting,  but  in  producing  that  Reformation  ;  that 
He  produced  it  by  the  agencies  of  old  sent  down  to  the  earth, 
by  His  Spirit  and  His  Word  ;  and  that  He  did  it  to  give  a  new 
era  to  the  whole  Church  by  reviving  her  almost  extinct  spirit- 
ual life,  and  by  giving  action  to  causes,  which  must  finally 
throw  off  all  error  and  all  superstition  from  the  heritage  of 
Christ ;  is  but  to  assert  what  is  as  plain  as  that  God  had  an 
agency  in  creating  the  worlds.  That  Reformation  was  God's 
work  upon  His  own  Church,  and  with  His  own  peculiar  instru- 
mentalities. And  yet,  as  I  have  said,  it  resulted  in  a  local 
loss  of  the  Episcopacy  from  the  ministry;  and  it  may  result  in 
the  loss  of  some  portions  of  Protestantism  even  from  the 
Church.     That  is ;  some  portions  of  Protestantism  may  yet  go 


VISIBLE    UNITY.  155 

SO  far,  if  they  have  not  already,  as  to  reject  the  whole  "doc- 
trine and  ft-Uowship  "  both  of  the  Apostles  and  of  Christ,  and 
thus  die  off  from  the  Church  as  a  branch  sometimes  dies  and  drops 
from  the  tree,  on  which  it  grew.  But,  non-Episcopal  Protestant- 
ism itself,  spreading  over  the  wide  earth,  and  carrying  with  it 
some  of  the  best  life  and  activities  of  Christ,  His  Spirit,  and 
His  Truth,  is  part  of  the  one  Visible  Church  and  Body  of  Christ ; 
and  a  living  proof  that  the  oneness,  the  unity,  of  this  Church 
cannot  consist  in  a  universal  subordination  of  all  the  members  to 
one  form  of  the  ministry.  The  loss  of  the  Episcopacy,  we  con- 
sider a  great  loss ;  and  for  what  purpose  permitted,  we  cannot  yet 
divine  :  but  to  say  that  it  has  cast  non-Episcopal  Protestantism 
out  of  the  Visible  (Jhurch,  is  to  be  a  bold  man  in  charging  God, 
and  in  overstepping  our  own  highest  Standards. 

II.  In  what,  then,  does  the  unity  of  the  Visible  Church  con- 
sist 1  I  answer:  It  consists  in  professed  subjection  to  Christ, 
the  one  Divine  Head  of  this  Visible  Church.  It  consists  in 
being  thus  (he  One,  and  universal  Body,  or  company  of  Christ's 
professed  followers  in  all  the  earth.  The  unity  of  the  Visible 
Church  resides  in  the  outward  profession  and  maintenance, 
every  where,  of  that  which  really  constitutes  the  unity  of  the 
true,  spiritual  and  holy  Church  Catholic.  The  unity  of  this 
Spiritual  Church  consists,  as  we  have  seen,  in  truly  having 
"  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism  :  " — "  One  Lord,  "  Christ 
Jesus,  as  the  living  Head  :  "  One  Faith,"  the  whole  revealed 
Word  believed  with  the  heart,  as  the  vital  bond  which  ties 
every  believer  to  that  Head :  and  "  One  Baptism,  "  the  Bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  that  which  puts  the  breathing  of  a 
divine  life  into  the  whole  Body  so  constituted  and  united.  The 
unity  of  the  true,  Spiritual  Church  consists  in  really  having 
these  divine  things.  The  unity  of  the  Visible  Church  consists 
in  outwardly  pro/essmg  them,  though,  in  reality,  all  the  mem- 
bers have  them  not.  This  Visible  Church  is  one  Body,  because 
it  everywhere  professes  the  "  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Bap- 
tism," without  which  there  is  no  Church.  Whoever,  as  an  in- 
dividual, or  as  a  community,  utterly  casts  off  this  "one  Lord, 
one  Faith,  and  one  Baptism,"  is  thereby  cut  off  from  even  the 
Visible  Church  :  and  whoever,   individually  or   collectively, 


156  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

professes  this  "  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  and  one  Baptism,"  is 
thereby  incorporated  into  this  Church,  and  there  makes  a  part 
of  the  one  visible  Body  of  Christ.  The  Spiritual  Church 
really  has  and  enjoys  these  things,  and  is  thereby  one.  The 
Visible  Church  outwardly  professes  them,  and  is  thereby  one, 
though  all  its  members  do  not  have  and  enjoy  the  reality  which 
they  profess.  The  unity  of  each  has  reference  to  the  same 
elementary,  constituent  principles,  without  which  there  can  be 
no  Church,  spiritual  or  visible.  The  unity  of  the  one  is  di- 
vine and  perfect ;  the  unity  of  the  other  is  but  analogical  and 
imperfect. 

Such,  then,  being  the  oneness  of  the  Visible  Church,  it  is 
obvious  that  many  things  may  disturb,  and  deeply,  wound,  its 
union  or  harmony,  without  thereby  destroying  its  unity.  This 
is  the  difference  between  unity  and  union.  ''  The  unity  and 
entity  of  the  Church,"  says  Bishop  Hall,  "  can  no  more  be  di- 
vided than  itself."  To  destroy  the  unity  of  the  Body  is  to  de- 
stroy the  Body  itself.  But  the  union  of  the  Church  may  be 
broken.  This  is  not  infrangible.  This  may  be  broken  with- 
out destroying  the  Body.  Unity  is  that  which  makes  a  thing 
one.  Union  is  that  which  makes  several  things  agree  in  one. 
Union  is  the  harmony  of  parts,  In  the  Visible  Church, 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  this  harmony  may  be  broken,  without  de- 
stroying the  Church's  oneness.  It  has  been  broken,  sadly 
broken — till  this  Church  has  become  like  a  family  agitated  by 
intestine  broils.  But,  its  unity  remains.  It  is  still  the  one, 
great,  visible  family  of  Christ  on  earth  ;  and,  what  is  more,  its 
union,  its  harmony,  may  yet  be  restored.  Perhaps,  when  we 
consider  the  passions  and  interests  of  men,  and  the  mixture  of 
all  things  human  in  this  Visible  Church,  the  wonder  ought  to 
be  that  its  discords  have  not  been  greater,  rather  than  that  they 
have  been  so  great.  And  now,  to  gather  up  some  things  from 
our  subject : 

1.  The  view,  which  has  been  taken  throws  light  on  the 
question  about  returning  to  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Chris- 
tians are  not  to  return  to  visible  unity  under  one  temporal 
head.  There  is  not  and  never  has  been  any  such  unity.  Nor 
are  they  necessarily  to  return  to  visible  unity  under  one  form 
of  ecclesiastical  government  and  law.     Such  subordination  is 


RETURNING    TO  UNITY.  157 

not  essential  to  the  real  oneness  of  the  Body.  Nor,  however 
fervently  we  may  pray  for  it,  are  they  necessarily  to  return  to 
visible  unity  under  one  form  of  the  Christian  ministry.  Under 
the  providence  of  God,  this  subordination  may,  or  may  not,  be 
restored.  To  what,  then,  are  they  to  return  1  As  we  express 
the  idea  in  our  "  prayer  for  all  conditions  of  men,"  they  are 
to  return  to  "  the  unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace."  This 
unity,  or  rather,  this  union,  must  be  restored.  It  is  necessary 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Church.  Without  it,  piety  will  remain 
stinted,  and  never  grow  to  half  its  proper  stature.  Without  it, 
prayer  will  continue  weak,  and  never  grasp  on  half  the  pro- 
mises. Without  it,  the  Church's  growth  will  be  partial,  and 
never  compass  half  her  destined  heritage.  The  world,  in  its 
wants,  calls  for  this  return  to  union  ;  the  Church,  in  her  dis- 
tractions, calls  for  it :  and  God,  in  His  Word,  calls  for  it.  Ay  j 
and  the  three  shall  yet  have  what  they  ask.  The  gracious 
power  of  God  shall  give  it  to  the  world,  to  the  Church,  and  to 
Himself.  The  old  world's  jeers  at  the  Visible  Church's  broils, 
are  beginning  to  make  Christians  sick  with  sadness  ;  and  (is  it 
not  God  that  inspires  the  faith  1)  the  healing  of  this  sickness 
will  come  in  the  restoration  of  that  sweet  harmony,  the  viola- 
tion of  which  is  so  painfully  felt. 

The  questions.  What  is  the  Church  1  Where  is  it  1  How 
may  I  find  it  1  are  often  suffered  needlessly  to  disturb  the 
tender  conscience.  They  are  often  artfully  pressed  as  though 
there  were  a  thousand  claimants  to  the  character  of  the  Church, 
and  only  one  of  them  entitled  to  it ;  and  as  though,  amid  their 
conflicting  claims,  each  individual  Christian  must  decide  which, 
among  them  all,  is  the  true  Church,  the  only  Church,  the 
Church  in  which  alone  salvation  is  to  be  found.  This,  as  we 
have  viewed  the  subject,  is  an  utterly  false  position.  No  soul 
has  such  an  awful  question  as  this  to  answer.  The  compara- 
tive claims  of  different  Christian  communities  are  not  un-im- 
portant,  but  they  can  never  grow  to  such  a  fearful  weight  as 
this.  It  is  a  weight  which  would  press  unnumbered  souls  into 
despair.  The  grand  direction,  needed  for  every  one,  is  this  : 
Find  the  Bible,  find  Christ,  find  the  Holy  Spirit,  find  the  Bap- 
tism of  the  heart  into  the  life  "  hid  with  Christ  in  God  j"  and 


158  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

then,  confessing  your  Savior  before  men  in  the  accessible  way 
of  His  appointment,  you  have  found  His  Church.  His  Church 
covers  all  Christians. 

2.  But,  the  question,  What  is  the  true,  apostolic  ministry  of 
the  Church  1  is  one  of  a  different  order.  We  believe  this  min- 
istry to  have  been  Episcopal.  Ignorance,  unintentional  mis- 
take, education,  unavoidable  Providences,  may  render  others 
blameless  in  living  without  it  ;  but  nothing  can  make  us 
blameless  in  renouncing  it,  save  as  this  ministry  itself  renounces 
Christ  and  His  Gospel,  or  imposes  on  our  consciences  terms  of 
communion,  which  are  clearly  unscriptural.  Whenever  this 
ministry  assumes  either  of  these  attitudes,  the  duty  of  submis- 
sion to  it  is  lost  in  the  higher  duty  of  fidelity  to  Christ  and  His 
Truth.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  our  best  writers  have  ever 
justified  the  separation  of  the  European  Continental  Protes- 
tants from  the  Church  of  Rome,  even  though  in  that  separation, 
they  were  unable  to  carry  with  them  a  Scriptural  Episcopacy. 
The  ministry  was  "set  in  the  Body"  for  its  health  and  wel- 
fare. Subserving  these,  it  must  be  held.  Proving  utterly  de- 
structive of  these,  it  must  be  renounced  ;  for  the  Body,  with 
Christ,  its  Head,  is  more  than  any  member  thereof,  however 
eminent  in  place.  If  even  the  eye  ofTend  incurably,  it  must 
be  plucked  out. 

3.  The  view  which  has  been  taken,  teaches  another  thing. 
While  it  is  our  duty,  as  Protestants,  to  mourn  over  the  evils 
which  rend  the  harmony  of  the  Church,  and  to  seek  to  enter 
livino-ly  into  the  sorrows  which  these  evils  inspire  in  the  heart 
of  Christ ;  it  is  still  our  privilege  to  rejoice  in  the  true  and 
holy  unity,  which  pervades  and  binds  all  Christ's  living  mem- 
bers in  His  one  Spiritual  Church  Catholic  ;  to  cultivate,  more- 
over, that  "»unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,"  which 
should  pervade  and  unite  even  His  Visible  Church  j  and  to  live, 
and  labor,  and  sacrifice,  each  in  his  proper  sphere,  to  spread 
the  pure  Gospel,  the  knowledge  of  the  true  Savior,  over  all 
the  world.  In  this  way,  we  shall  do  our  best  in  bringing  again 
the  full  mind  of  Christ  upon  all  His  followers  ;  till,  as  the 
light  of  the  sun  cometh  down,  and  maketh  a  shining  garment 
for   the  earth,   so   that   mind,   descending,  shall   inrobe  His 


TEACHINGS  FROM  THE  SUBJECT.  159 

Church,  and  make  even  her  outer  vestments  glorious.  Already 
•'  is  the  King's  Daughter  all  glorious  within."  It  is  a  cheer- 
ing thought  that  we  may  aid  in  bringing  forward  the  time, 
when  her  very  "  clothing  shall  be  of  wrought  gold  ;"  shining 
in  the  sweet  harmonies  of  peace,  love,  and  truth. 

4.  Finally ;  let  every  thing,  which  has  been  said,  from  be- 
ginning to  end  of  this  whole  subject,  come  to  this  one  point,  as 
an  enduring  lesson  to  every  single  soul :  The  Church,  in  her 
best  earthly  estate,  will  save  no  man.  If  any  man  be  ever  saved, 
he  will,  indeed,  be  saved  in  the  Church,  and  by  the  instru- 
ments, which  Christ  has  put  into  her  hands  for  use.  Still,  the 
Church  alone  will  not  save  him  ;  she  cannot  save  him.  He 
must  be  savt'd,  for  himself,  individually,  by  Christ,  His  Spirit 
and  His  Truth ;  with  as  much  of  personal  responsibility  and 
watchfulness  and  care,  as  if  he  were  alone  in  the  world,  with 
nothing  but  Christ,  His  Spirit,  and  His  Truth,  beside  him.  The 
grand  heresy,  which  the  present  day  is  bringing  back  upon 
Protestantism,  is,  that,  somewhere  in  the  abstract  being  of  the 
Church,  there  is  laid  up  a  deposit  of  spiritual  life  and  grace, 
which  she  has  power,  of  her  own  will,  to  dispense  ;  and  that, 
to  be  a  member  of  the  Church  is,  somehow,  wittingly  or  un- 
wittingly, to  become  a  sharer  in  her  rich  treasure.  It  is  a 
fatally  perilous  delusion.  The  Church  has  just  so  much 
spiritual  life  and  grace  in  her,  and  no  more  ;  as  each  member, 
for  himself  alone,  draws  personally  from  Christ,  through  the 
channels  which  Christ  hath  opened.  The  spiritual  life  and 
grace  of  the  Church  can  never  be  other  or  greater  than  the 
simple  aggregate  of  what  each  member  thus  brings  into  it, 
from  the  great  Fountain-head  of  all.  Happy,  if  every  man 
would  remember  this  truth ;  if  he  would  carry  it  with  him 
every  where,  sleep  on  it,  wake  under  it,  live  in  it.  The  Church 
cannot  save  us ;  Jesus  Christ  must  save  us  ;  thousands  of  the 
members  of  the  Visible  Church,  it  must  be  feared,  have  per- 
ished J  we  shall  perish,  if  we  never  attain  to  more  than  repu- 
table membership  in  this  Church. 

In  dismissing  now  the  argument  on  the  comprehension  of  the 
Church,  a  word  personal  to  the  writer  may  be  permitted.  He  is 
not,  then,  indifferent  to  what  may  be  said  whether  of  himself  or 


160  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

of  what  he  has  advanced.  Yet,  has  he  not  been  governed  herein 
by  any  reference  to  such  notices.  He  has  written,  because  he  felt 
it  his  duty  to  exhibit  what  he  believes  to  be,  at  all  times,  and  es- 
pecially at  the  present,  most  important  truths.  Those  to  whom 
it  has  been  his  privilege  to  proclaim  the  Gospel,  will  bear  him 
witness,  that  it  is  not  his  wont  to  dwell,  with  great  frequency, 
on  the  special  subject  of  the  Church.  Ordinarily,  "  Christ 
and  Him  crucified"  is  and  must  be  his  main  theme.  The 
present,  however,  are  no  ordinary  times.  Our  Church,  both 
in  this,  and  in  her  mother  country,  has  in  her  bosom  those 
who  are  avowedly  seeking  to  put  out  the  light  of  her  Protes- 
tantism. Under  such  circumstances,  every  minister  within  her 
pale  is  bound  to  speak  out,  honestly  and  fully,  and  to  let  his 
people  know  where  he  stands,  and  towards  what  he  is  driving. 
If  they  are  to  be  led  away  from  the  Protestant  faith  of  their 
fathers,  it  is  but  right  that  they  should  be  led  with  their  eyes 
open,  and  with  their  own  consent.  Regardfully  of  these  obli- 
gations of  the  clergy  and  this  right  of  their  people,  the  author 
has  acted  in  what  he  has  now,  at  some  length,  propounded. 
To  his  Master  and  his  conscience,  he  could  not  feel  justified  in 
withholding  what  he  has  written.  His  children  and  immediate 
parishioners,  at  least,  if  not  the  Church  at  large,  must  know 
his  whole  heart  on  this  subject.  The  grave  charges,  usually 
urged  against  those  who  write  as  he  has  written,  will,  perhaps, 
justify  him  in  the  egotism  of  saying  that  he  is,  by  conviction,  as 
well  as  in  affection,  an  Episcopalian.  He  was  born  and  nur- 
tured in  the  full  discipline  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church. 
He  loves  it,  and  doubts  not  he  shall  love  it  unto  death.  But,  he 
humbly  hopes  that,  "by  the  grace  of  God,"  he  has  a  still  higher 
designation.  He  is  a  Christian  ;  and,  as  such,  can  never  sink,  in 
the  mere  Churchman,  the  regards,  which  he  owes  to  all,  who 
belong  to  Christ.  He  is  also  a  Protestant  Christian  ;  and  can 
never  look  with  other  than  feelings  of  unfeigned  alarm  at  every 
step  which  our  Protestantism  may  take,  in  retracing  its  way, 
even  though  it  be  unconsciously,  towards  the  errors,  which  were 
renounced,  before  heaven  and  earth,  on  the  morning  of  the  great 
Reformation.  He  wages  no  personal  contest.  He  denies  no  man 
the  right  of  forming  and  spreading  his  own  judgments  on  the 


TEACHINGS  FROM  THE  SUBJECT.  161 

points  discussed.  He  stands  on  principle  ;  and,  claiming  the 
same  rights  which  he  allows,  on  his  own  principles  he  must 
stand  openly.  If  others  can,  in  the  main,  stand  with  him,  he 
will  rejoice.  But,  with  many  or  alone,  so  he  stands  ;  and,  with 
his  best  prayers  and  labors  for  this,  our  Zion  upon  earth,  will 
hope  so  to  stand,  till  called  to  share  the  glory  of  the  true  Zion 
in  Heaven. 

Oh !  the  glory  of  that  upper  Church  !  To  writer  and  reader, 
be  that  the  home  of  our  highest,  holiest  love.  Let  all  live  in 
longings  for  it ;  and,  to  the  language  of  our  sweet  hymn,  let 
all  train  the  daily  utterances  of  their  hearts : 

Mother  of  cities  !  o'er  thy  head 
Bright  peace,  with  healing  wings  outspread, 
For  evermore  shall  dwell  i 

Let  me,  blest  seat !  my  name  behold 
Among  thy  citizens  enroll'd, 
And  bid  the  world  farewell ! 


11 


PAET  III. 


VIEWS 


OF 


THE   GOVERNMENT  AND  WORSHIP 


OF 


THE    CHURCH 


DISCOURSE  XI 


"  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves." 

Heb.  xiii ;  17. 


Having  finished  the  argument  on  the  true  comprehension  of 
the  Church  Universal,  both  in  its  spiritual  and  in  its  visible 
aspect,  I  might  here  close  my  work.  Before  doing  so,  how- 
ever, I  will  add  a  few  remarks  upon  two  other  topics,  which, 
though  they  belong  not  strictly  to  the  comprehension,  are  yet 
connected  with  the  general  subject,  of  the  Church.  We  shall 
be  led  to  one  of  them  by  a  remark  or  two  on  the  passage  from 
Heb.  xiii ;  17. 

"  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  your- 
selves." This  language  refers  to  ecclesiastical,  not  to  civil 
rule :  for,  as  the  Apostle  immediately  adds  of  those,  who  have 
this  rule,  "  They  watch  for  your  souls  as  they  that  must  give 
account."  Civil  rulers  are  not  appointed  to  "  watch  for 
souls."     This  office  is  peculiar  to  the  rulers  of  the  Church. 

The  language  also  refers  to  lawful,  constituted  rule  j  and 
not  to  authority  arbitrarily  assumed,  or  accidentally  acquired. 
Those  who  "have  this  rule,"  have  it  rightly.  It  is  a  rule, 
which  the  members  of  the  Church  may  be  called  upon  to 
"  obey."  As  we  learn,  in  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  ; 
*'  God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church  :  first.  Apostles ,  secondarily, 
prophets  j  thirdly,  teachers.*     The  institution  itself  of  a  Chris- 

•  I  Cor.  xu  J  28. 


166  THE   CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

tian  ministry  is  divine ;  more  emphatically  so  than  that  of 
civil  government.  If,  in  the  latter,  "  the  powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God,"  more  especially  so  are  they  in  the  former. 

Again :  "  the  rule,"  or  authority,  here  mentioned,  was  not 
vested  in  one,  but  in  several.  The  words  are,  not,  "  Obey 
him  that  hath  the  rule  over  you,"  but  "  obey  them  that  have 
the  rule;"  and  the  plain  implication  is,  that  when  this  was 
written,  there  was  no  one  acknowledged  temporal  head  of  the 
Church.  Its  government  was  then  vested  in  a  body  of  men, 
more  or  less  numerous.  Thus  far,  the  remarks  on  this  passage 
admit  of  no  qualification  :  they  imbody  unquestionable  truths. 

But,  when  we  inquire  further  ;  whether  the  authority,  here 
recognized,  was  vested  in  an  order  of  ministers  of  a  superior 
grade,  having  lower  orders  of  the  ministry  under  them,  and 
governing  the  Churches  under  their  care,  according  to  Christ's 
laws  ;  as  in  an  Episcopacy :  or  was  vested  in  a  ministry,  con- 
stituted on  the  principle  of  parity,  having  no  inferior  orders, 
and  ruling  the  Church  by  their  joint  counsels;  as  in  Presbyte- 
rianism  :  or  was  vested  in  each  separate  and  equal  pastor, 
ruling  his  own  charge  independently  of  other  pastors  ;  as  in 
Congregationalism  :  the  passage  before  us  does  not  decide.  It 
simply  decides  that  there  is  in  the  Church  a  divinely  constituted 
authority,  or  government ;  and  that  this  authority  is  exercised, 
not  by  owe,  but  by  a  plurality  of  ministers. 

Our  claim,  as  I  formerly  observed,  is,  that,  "  from  the  Apos- 
tles' times,"  the  government  of  the  Church  has  had  its  base  on 
the  Episcopal  platform ;  and  my  object  in  this  discourse  will 
be  to  examine  the  chief  advantages  of  an  Episcopacy  in  the 
discipline  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  At  the  apostolic  origin  of 
Episcopacy,  as  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  ministry,  I 
have  already  glanced.  I  shall  not,  therefore,  resume  that 
topic  ;  and  even  in  treating  of  the  advantages  of  Episcopacy, 
as  an  institution  of  government  in  the  Church,  the  bounds 
which  I  have  set  to  the  present  series,  will  oblige  me  to  limit 
my  examination  to  the  principal  only  of  these  advantages. 

Before  entering  on  the  proposed  examination,  however,  I 
wish  to  throw  off  from  the  subject  certain  extraneous  matters, 
by  which  it  would  be  embarrassed. 


GOVERNMENT.  167 

Connected,  then,  •with  the  Christian  ministry,  as  an  institu- 
tion, and  originating  from  some  fruitful  source,  there  has  doubt- 
less been  a  tendency  to  augment  its  true  power,  and  to  diminish 
the  just  influence  of  the  popular  element  in  the  Church.  So, 
on  the  contrary,  especially  since  the  Reformation,  there  has 
been,  in  connexion  with  the  popular  element,  and  originating 
in  a  similar  source,  a  tendency  to  enlarge  its  proper  sphere  of 
action,  and  to  diminish  the  just  influence  of  the  ministry. 
What  have  been  termed  the  usurpations  of  the  priesthood,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  what  we  have  seen  of  popular  extravagances, 
on  the  other,  render  illustration  of  these  remarks  needless. 
It  is  more  to  my  purpose  to  add  that',  as  to  their  fruitful  source, 
both  the  tendencies  mentioned  have  sprung — not  out  of  the 
Christian  ministry  itself,  nor  out  of  the  true  genius  of  a  Chris- 
tian people,  but — out  of  a  corrupt  human  nature,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  has  been  placed  ;  and  that,  under  the 
actual  circumstances  of  the  case,  those  tendencies  would  have 
developed  themselves,  under  any  form  which  the  ministry 
could  have  assumed,  and  under  any  type,  short  of  a  vastly 
higher  sanctification,  into  which  a  Christian  people  could  ha-'^e 
been  molded. 

Again  :  looking  upon  Episcopacy  as  the  original  constitution 
of  the  ministry,  the  comparatively  later  power  of  Popery,  on 
the  one  hand,  has  tended  to  degrade  Bishops  below  their  primi- 
tive rank  of  independence  and  equality  with  each  other ; 
while  on  the  other  hand,  the  popular  element,  since  its  devel- 
oped activity,  has  tended  to  annihilate  the  Episcopal  office 
itself.  But,  neither  with  these  tendencies  has  my  subject  any 
concern,  save,  as  in  the  former  case,  that  of  ascribing  them  to 
their  true  cause.  They  are  the  tendencies  of  our  corrupt 
nature,  under  the  circumstances,  of  which  history  takes  note  ; 
and  not  of  a  Christian  ministry,  and  a  Christian  people,  in 
themselves  considered. 

In  treating  of  the  advantages  of  Episcopacy,  I  must  be  al- 
lowed to  mean  a  pure,  or  simple  Episcopacy.  My  subject  has 
nothing  to  do  with  a  Church  monarchy,  as  in  Papal  Italy ;  nor 
with  a  titled  prelacy,  as  in  Protestant  England  ;  nor  with  a 
corrupt  and  worldly  body  of  Bishops,  as,  in  various  countries, 


168  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

may  have  existed  ;  nor  with  here  and  there  a  monster  of  wick- 
edness, under  a  mitre  5  as  may,  at  times,  have  been  seen.  These 
things  belong  not  to  Episcopacy  itself.  They  are  but  historic 
incidents  which,  amid  the  changes  of  human  society,  and  out 
of  the  workings  of  a  depraved  nature,  have  been  superadded 
to  Episcopacy.  Any  form  of  the  Christian  ministry,  in  human 
hands  and  in  human  society,  is  liable  to  abuse.  Presbyterian- 
ism  and  Congregationalism,  in  such  hands  and  amid  such  influ- 
ences, may  be  as  ambitious,  as  oppressive,  and  as  corrupt  as 
any  other  form  of  the  ministry. 

Why — the  inquiry  is  pertinent  here — why  have  we  heard 
more  of  such  evils  in  an  Episcopacy,  than  in  any  other  form 
the  Christian  ministry  1  And  the  answer  is  equally  pertinent : 
Because,  in  all  ages  since  the  Apostles,  and  in  all  countries 
throughout  Christendom,  the  Church  has,  for  the  most  part, 
been  under  Bishops  as  its  chief  ministers.  There  has  been 
little  but  an  Episcopacy  to  meet  and  endure  the  deforming 
and  corrupting  influences  of  human  society  and  of  historic 
events.  Episcopacy  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  strug- 
gles of  the  ages  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  It  has  come 
down  through  the  disorders  which  attended  the  decline  of  the 
Koman  Empire  ;  through  the  devastations  which  accompanied 
the  irruptions  of  the  barbarian  hordes  ;  through  the  supersti- 
tions (heathen  in  origin),  which  sprang  up  during  mediseval 
darkness  j  through  the  influences  which  molded  it  during  the 
Feudal  ages,  and  under  the  Feudal  systems  5  through  the  blood, 
and  fires,  and  fearful  excitements  of  the  great  Reformation  : 
through  the  fierce  contests,  in  England,  between  a  political 
Church  establishment  and  strenuous  Puritan  dissent  ;  and 
finally,  in  our  own  land,  through  the  hot  passions  and  preju- 
dices, engendered  by  our  severance  from  foreign  rule,  as  well 
Ecclesiastical  as  Political.*  Into  all  these  dreadful  strifes  and 
changes  of  the  ages  and  nations  of  Christendom — springing,  as 


*  As  the  union  of  the  Church  with  the  State  at  the  conversion  of  Constantine  ; 
the  introduction  of  heathen  superstitions  into  the  Christian  Body ;  the  power  of 
the  Feudal  system  ;  and  the  influence  of  the  Middle  Ages  generally,  tended  to 
corrupt  the  Ancient  Episcopacy  ;  so  the  terrible  excitements  of  the  Reformation, 
of  the  Putitan  struggle,  and  of  our  own  American  Pvevolution_.  have  doubtless 


GOVERNMENT.  169 

they  have  done,  out  of  the  all-controlling  movements  of  the 
world — Episcopacy  has  been  carried  by  the  resistless  current, 
along  which  human  destiny  has  been  tending.  Those  strifes 
and  changes  mark  the  steps  in  the  slow  but  sublime  movement 
of  human  society  towards  a  higher  and  more  perfect  civiliza- 
tion. They  have  stamped  on  the  character  and  institutions  of 
men,  lines  and  features,  so  deep,  that  centuries  have  not  been 
able  to  efface  the  impressions;  and  I  think  it  safe  to  say,  that 
any  form  of  the  Christian  ministry,  coming  down,  for  nearly 
two  thousand  years,  through  the  same  series  of  changes  and  of 
influences,  would  have  developed  evils  and  abuses,  if  not  iden- 
tical, at  least  equal,  with  those  which  have  been  exhibited  in 
the  descent  of  the  ancient  Episcopacy  to  our  times.  Under 
any  other  constitution  of  the  ministry,  nothing  could  have 
prevented  the  result,  but  Pentecostal  displays  of  grace,  per- 
petuated from  age  to  age,  and  making  the  Church  the  resistless 
molder  of  the  world's  character,  instead  of  leaving  the  world 
to  act,  in  reality,  as  a  potent  modifier  of  the  character  of  the 
Church;  and  with  such  displays  of  grace  (had  God  seen  it 
wise  to  vouchsafe  them),  the  ancient  Episcopacy  itself  would 
have  come  down  unabused  and  unharmed  ;  and  the  out- 
cry from  the  mouth  of  the  world,  and  the  record  from  the 
pen  of  history,  against  the  abuses,  to  which  it  has  been  subject, 
would  have  been  unheard  and  unwritten.  From  the  close  of 
the  second,  to  that  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Episcopacy  has 
been  subjected  to  the  severest  of  tests  and  carried  through  the 
most  pernicious  of  influences.  During  the  reign  of  those  long 
ages  it  was  never,  as  a  whole,  in  a  position  favorable  to  the 
development  of  its  true  character,  and  the  exertion  of  its  true 
power,  uncorrupted  and  unfettered.* 


tended  to  confirm  those  corruptions  ;  on  the  principle,  that  what  is  fiercely  and 
bloodily  assailed,  seeks,  as  men  are  naturally  constituted,  to  defend  and  preserve 
itself;  and  thereby  takes  the  deeper  root  in  the  soil,  from  which  its  eradication 
is  sought. 

•  The  remarks  of  Scott,  on  the  abuses  of  civil  government  in  England,  apply, 
■with  equal  force,  to  those  of  Ecclesiastical  government  in  all  countries : — 

"  In  our  happy  land,"  says  he,  "  the  advantages  derived  from  civil  govern- 
ment, are  immense  ;  our  grievances  comparatively  minute,  and  often  imaginary  ; 
and  rather  the  fault  of  human  nature,  than  of  our  constitution  or  public  adminis- 


170  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

"VVe  must,  therefore,  set  aside  from  the  subject  all  the  consid- 
erations to  which  I  have  adverted,  and  look  at  Episcopacy 
in  its  own  proper  character,  as  a  constitution  of  the  Christian 
ministry  on  the  basis  of  an  imparity  of  orders,  and  securing 
to  the  highest  of  those  orders  the  chief,  though  not  the  sole, 
place  of  rule,  or  authority,  in  the  Church.  We  must  look  at 
Episcopacy  such  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  such  as  it  was  designed  to 
be ;  and  such  as,  in  various  times  and  places,  it  has  been, 
humble  and  holy;  world-renouncing  and  laborious;  and 
amid  all,  ruling  the  Church  according  to  Christ's  laws.  I 
say,  "according  to  Christ's  laws  ;"  for  though  the  Church  has 
power  to  make  other  regulations  for  the  outward  order  of  wor- 
ship, for  the  transaction  of  business,  and  for  the  management  of 
temporalities,  provided  these  regulations  are  harmonious,  or 
not  inconsistent,  with  the  Scriptures;  yet,  any  government, 
whether  in  Episcopal  or  other  hands,  which  attempts  to  rule  the 
Church,  in  spiritual  matters,  on  the  basis  of  any  other  laws  than 
those,  which  Christ  has  left,  is  a  usurpation,  a  tyranny,  unlaw- 
ful in  the  sight  of  God.  I  repeat,  then,  we  must  look  at  Epis- 
copacy as  it  ought  to  be,  as  it  was  designed  to  be,  and  as  it  of- 
ten has  been ;  imbued  with  the  mind  of  Christ,  and  ruling  the 
Church  according  to  the  laws  of  Christ.  Instances  of  such  an 
Episcopacy  have  been,  both  in  individuals  and  in  Communi- 
ties ;  and  it  is  but  right  to  look  rA  a  thing  in  itself,  and  not  at 
the  abuses,  of  which  it  has  incidentally  been  the  subject.  It 
may  be  laid  down  as  a  maxim,  that,  when  they  fall  into  wick- 
ed hands,  the  best  things  have  the  worst  abuses.  Hence,  that 
best  of  rules,  of  "  doing  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God,"  has 
been  practically  abused  to  sanctify  the  most  dreadful  enormi- 
ties, even  to  the  blood  and  fires,  the  racks  and  brain-destroying 
tortures  of  the  Inquisition  ! 

And   now,  to   enter  directly  on  the  subject  proposed  :  the 

tration.  For  speculators  on  this  subject  (even  such  as  profess  to  believe  the 
doctrine  of  man's  entire  depravity)  almost  universally  blame  this  or  the  other 
form  of  government  for  those  evils,  which  are  in  fact  inseparable  from  fallen 
nature  :  and  they  expect  that  benefit  from  the  change  of  forms  or  persons,  which 
can  only  be  produced  by  the  renovation  of  men's  hearts  to  the  holy  image  of 
God,  and  the  mortification  of  that  inordinate  self-love  and  idolatrous  love  of  the 
world,  which  are  universal  to  mankiiid." — [Com.  on  Rom.  xiii  j  1 — 7.] 


GOVERNMENT.  171 

two  main  functions  of  the  Christian  ministry  are,  to  govern  the 
Church  by  the  discipline  of  Okder,  and  to  rule  it  by  the  disci- 
pline of  Truth  :  in  other  words,  scriptural  government,  and 
scriptural  teaching.  When  these  two  things  are  adequately 
secured,  the  Church  is  in  its  best  earthly  state. 

1.  Let  us,  then,  in  the  first  place  look  at  Episcopacy  as  a 
GovERAMEXT5  a  discipline  of  Order. 

Government  is  a  necessary  function  of  the  Church  universal. 
Though  no  one  form,  or  constitution  of  government  can  be 
used  as  a  mark,  by  which  to  ascertain  the  comprehension  of 
the  Church,  yet,  in  its  visibility,  no  part  of  the  Church  has 
ever  been  without  some  such  form  or  constitution.  The  very 
fact  of  an  ecclesiastical  organization  implies  the  existence,  and 
rests  on  the  necessity,  of  a  government  in  the  Church. 

The  main  advantage  of  a  simple  Episcopacy,  in  governing  the 
Church,  becomes  manifest  in  its  centralizing,  uniting  tendency. 
A  Bishop,  in  his  true  character,  appears — not  as  a  mere  man 
in  the  ministry,  who  by  peculiar  personal  qualities,  or  by  ac- 
cidental circumstances,  has  acquired  superior  influence,  and  is 
thus,  perhaps,  an  object  of  jealousy,  or  envy  ;  but — as  the 
regularly  constituted,  and  cheerfully  acknowledged  head  of 
the  clergy  and  people  under  his  care.  He  is — (and  in  our 
own  country,  he  is  by  their  own  choice), — in  an  office,  which 
they  regard  as  having  come  down  from  the  Apostles  j  and 
around  which,  therefore,  cluster  all  their  sentiments  of  filial 
reverence,  and  deferential  regard.  Their  submission  to  his 
lawful  rule  is  cordial  j  free,  so  far  as  our  earthly  lot  will  admit, 
from  the  human  feelings  of  jealousy  and  envy.  In  this  char- 
acter, the  Episcopacy  tends, — not  to  degrade  the  lower  orders 
of  the  ministry, — they  are  its  main  helps  in  its  labors  for 
Christ  J  nor  to  depress  the  just  influence  of  the  popular  ele- 
ment in  the  Church — on  that  it  depends  for  concurrence  and 
efficiency  in  those  same  labors  ; — but,  simply  to  act  as  a  uniting 
centre  to  both  the  clergy  and  the  people  ;  enforcing  the  rules 
of  law  and  administering  the  discipline  of  government,  pater- 
nally and  wisely ;  allaying  dissensions  and  composing  strifes, 
with  the  best  prospect  of  cheerful  acquiescence  from  both 
sides,  and  of  keeping  the  whole   body  from  the  extremes  of 


172  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

clerical  encroachment  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  popular  excess 
on  the  other.  The  best  interests,  as  well  as  the  high  duty,  of 
such  an  Episcopacy  lie  in  the  harmony,  peace  and  love  of  the 
whole  body  of  clergy  and  people  under  its  care.  Ambitions, 
usurpations,  stretches  of  power,  are  possible  evils :  but  they 
are  possible  under  all  systems  in  the  hands  of  human  nature  ; 
and  would  be  as  possible  in  a  democracy  of  the  Churchy  as  they 
are  found  actually  to  be  in  a  democracy  of  the  State.  They 
are  the  evils  of  our  nature  ;  and  no  system  can  be  kept  entirely 
safe  from  their  entrance.  A  simple,  primitive  Episcopacy  is, 
doubtless,  as  safe  from  them  as  any  other  system,  committed 
to  the  guardianship  of  men  ;  while  its  power  t©  promote  har- 
mony, peace  and  love,  in  obedience  to  venerable  and  consti- 
tuted "  rule,"  is  manifold  greater  than  that  of  any  other,  which 
can  be  named. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  objected,  that  the  testimony  of  history  is 
against  this  view  j  and  that,  as  it  is  often  charged,  the  ancient 
Episcopacy  naturally  developed  itself  into  the  comparatively 
modern  Papacy. 

To  me  this  charge  seems  unsupported.  What, — let  me 
ask, — first  transformed  the  simple,  primitive  Bishop  into  an 
Arch-bishop ,  the  Arch-bishop  into  a  Patriarch,  and  finally  the 
Patriarch  into  a  Pope  %  Not,  as  I  apprehend,  the  inherent 
tendency  of  the  ancient  Episcopacy  itself;  but  the  adventitious 
circumstances,  with  which  it  became  needlessly  implicated.  It 
is  inconsistent  with  my  plan  to  enter  at  large  into  the  history 
of  that  development;  but,  I  think  it  would  be  easy  to  demon- 
strate, from  written  facts,  the  following  positions. 

The  development  of  the  Papacy  commenced  in  the  worldly 
and  political  influences,  which  were  early  introduced  ;  espe- 
cially at  the  conjunction  between  the  Church  and  the  State, 
con.se«quent  on  the  accession  of  Constantine  the  Great  to  the 
throne,  and  upon  his  real,  or  pretended  conversion  to  Chris- 
tianity. He  adopted  Christianity,  as  the  religion  of  his  still, 
in  the  main,  unconverted  Empire;  and  sought  to  make  him- 
selt  to  religion  in  the  State,  what  the  Bishop  was  to  religion 
in  tiie  Church.  That  political  conjunction  was  the  great  mis- 
fortune of  the  Christian  ages.     Yet,  it  was  a  misfortune  in- 


GOVERNMENT.  173 

curred,  not  by  the  inherent  tendency  of  the  ancient  Episco- 
pacy, but,  by  the  false  views  of  an  Emperor,  but  recently  dis- 
enthralled from  his  dark  bondage  under  heathenism.  Thence- 
forward, and  as  long  ages  rolled  by,  the  political  influences  of 
the  State,  identical  then  with  those  of  the  Church,  working  in 
all  the  great  and  influential  cities  of  Christendom,  and  taking 
advantage  of  the  superstitions  engendered  of  darkness,  rapidly 
favored  the  corruption  of  the  ancient  and  simple  Episcopacy  j 
and  expedited  the  passage  of  the,  once  laborious  and  suff'ering, 
holy  and  unambitious  Bishop  along  his  career,  from  one  grade 
and  title  to  another,  and  from  one  degree  of  political  power 
to  a  higher ;  till  finally,  dfi  ofl!ice,  which  was  at  first  held  by  a 
humble  laborer  and  suff'erer  for  Christ,  came  to  be  filled  by  a 
triple-crowned  Monarch  of  the  Church,  to  whom  even  Empe- 
rors were  fain  to  pay  homage. 

That  the  superstitions  of  the  Church,  to  which  I  just  now 
adverted,  were  contracted  from  the  lingering  and  scarcely 
latent  heathenism  of  the  Roman  Empire,  while  becoming,  and 
after  it  became,  nominally  Christian  ;  it  will  not,  I  suppose, 
be  by  Protestants  denied  ;  and,  that  it  was  through  these  su- 
perstitions mainly,  that  the  simple  Episcopacy  of  elder  times 
became  gradually  corrupted,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  finally 
able  to  enforce  his  claim  to  universal  jurisdiction;  this  is  3, 
truth  as  little  likely,  in  such  a  quarter,  to  be  questioned.  It 
was  under  favor  of  those  growing  superstitions  that  the  ambi- 
tious prelates  of  that  powerful  and  wealthy  city  were  able  to 
stretch  prerogative  after  prerogative ;  to  secure  from  weaker 
prelates  concession  after  concession ;  and  to  take,  by  the  side 
of  temporal  princes,  step  after  step,  till  at  last  the  fortunate 
successor  reached  the  summit,  at  which  his  predecessors  had 
been  aiming,  and  sate, — Pontifex  Maximus, — acknowledged 
temporal  and  spiritual  head  of  the  Christian  world  ! 

The  decay  of  intelligent  and  scriptural  piety,  consequent  on 
those  growing  superstitions,  must  be  named  as  the  true  secret 
of  his  success.  Had  the  spirit  of  that  piety  continued  to  live, 
as  in  the  first  ages,  it  would  have  been  impossible  either  to 
corrupt  the  ancient  Episcopacy,  or  to  place  the  foot  of  a  Roman 
Bishop  on  the  subject  neck  of  Christendom.     As  a  strong  cor- 


174  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

roboration  of  this  position,  it  may  be  remarked  j  that,  so  soon 
as  the  spirit  of  that  piety,  intelligent  and  scriptural,  not  super- 
stitious and  ascetic,  began  to  revive  at  the  dawning  and  the 
sunrise  of  the  Reformation,  the  prerogatives  and  usurpations 
of  the  Pope  began  to  be  questioned  ;  that  ultimately  his  iron 
yoke  was  broken  oiF  through  all  Protestant  realms  ;  and  that, 
in  England,  where  the  Reformation  was  conducted  with  closest 
reference   to  the  primitive   estate  of  the   Church,  primitive 
Episcopacy  at  once  came  forward,  if  not  wholly  in  its  proper 
character,  at  least  to  its  proper  post,  and  with  but  few  varia- 
tions from  its  original ;   abounding  once  more   in  wondrous 
laborers  for  Christ,  and  in  wondrous  martyrs  for  his  Truth. 
The  strength  of  the  remark  is  still  further  increased  by  this 
consideration ;  that  nothing  higher  than  Episcopacy  was,  or 
could  be,  retained  in  even  the  royally-faxored  Protestantism  of 
England.     Had  the  attempt  been  made,  while  reforming  the 
Church  of  her  doctrinal  errors  and  corruptions  in  ceremony, 
to  retain  even  the  most  modified  allegiance,  or  subordination, 
to  the  Papacy  in  government,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
that  the  religious  feeling,  which  then  awoke  and  lived  in  the 
light  of  the  Bible  and  the  Spirit,  would  have  been  roused  to 
the  extreme  of  resistance,  and  have  swept  away,  not  only  the 
Papacy,  but  all  traces  of  the  Episcopacy  itself.     The  Episco- 
pacy of  England  was  the  highest  point,  which  the  waters  of  that 
purifying  flood  could  have  left  standing :   so  resistlessly  does 
an  enlightened  and  scriptural  piety  set  against  every  form  and 
modification  of  the  Papal  system. 

Moreover,  with  all  the  political  and  superstitious  influences, 
and  with  all  the  amazing  power  of  wealth,  which  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  with  which  his  mighty  metropolis  surrounded  him, 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  did  not  succeed  in  fixing  himself  on  that 
splendid  pinnacle  of  his  ambition,  till  after  ages  of  desperate 
conflict  with  other  Bishops  of  Christendom  in  their  resistance 
to  his  unchristian  claims.  And  even  when  he  did  finally  suc- 
ceed, in  despite  of  such  resistance,  it  was  not  because  he  was 
Bishop,  but  because  his  see  was  Rome  ;  the  metropolis  of  the 
world ;  the  central  heart  of  the  power  and  wealth,  and  civil 
influence  of  a  fatally  corrupted  empire.     The  idea,  that  an- 


GOVERNIMENT.  175 

jcient  Bishops,  prompted  by  the  inherent  tendency  of  their 
office,  conspired,  either  openly  or  secretly,  either  consciously 
or  unconsciously,  to  lift,  or  be  the  instruments  of  lifting,  one 
of  their  own  official  equals,  step  by  step,  and  age  after  age,  to 
a  throne  and  the  tiara,  is,  to  my  mind,  the  wildest  of  chimeras. 
They  struggled  long  and  intensely  against  the  strides  of  a 
mammoth  power,  in  which  Christian  office  had  become  blended 
with  a  strange  concentration  of  all  the  baleful  influences  of 
this  world.  Suppose  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  been  but  a 
Presbyter  among  Presbyters,  with  no  Bishops  on  Earth ;  yet, 
by  virtue  of  his  peculiar  position,  a  kind  of  successional  mo- 
derator over  brethren;  a  hereditary  '^primus  inter  pares,''^  or 
first  among  equals ;  I  hold  that  the  mighty  influences  of  the 
ages  through  which  his  office  must  have  passed  down,  would 
inevitably  have  made  him  a  Pope,  if  not  in  name,  yet  in  fact 
and  in  effect.  The  truth  is,  in  their  real,  spiritual  independence 
as  official  equals,  Bishops  are  and  ever  have  been,  the  most 
strenuous  opponents  of  Popery  ;  and  if  they,  with  all  the  au- 
thority and  influence  of  their  ancient  and  venerated  office,  were 
unable  to  resist  the  strides  of  the  politico-ecclesiastical  giant 
in  Rome,  what  could  a  less  influential  band  of  Church  officers 
have  done  in  their  struggle  with  that  evil  genius  of  Christen- 
dom 1  No:  this  tendency  to  an  augmentation  of  power,  sprang 
not  out  of  the  ancient  Episcopacy  itself.  Had  the  Church 
never  been  married  to  the  State  ;  had  political  and  pecuniary 
influence,  favored  by  the  superstitions  of  darkness,  never  sub- 
merged that  simple  and  primitive  institute  beneath  their  cor- 
ruptions, the  Papacy  had  never  existed.  Most  of  all  things, 
and  with  the  best  of  reasons,  the  Pope  fears  a  spiritual,  inde- 
pendent. Episcopacy,  filled  with  official  equals.  Hence  it  is, 
that  even  that  partial  approach  to  such  an  Episcopacy,  which 
is  exhibited  in  the  restored  English  Church,  has  ever  been  an 
object  of  State  jealousy  to  the  Church  monarch  at  Rome. 
Were  there  no  such  Episcopacy  in  the  world,  Rome,  I  fear, 
would  reign  in  comparative  quiet  and  freedom  from  solicitude  ; 
and  her  hope  would  sensibly  brighten  of  once  more  wielding 
the  sceptre  of  a  universal  temporal  dominion. 

I  think,  then,  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  Episcopacy  did  not, 


176  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

originally  and  from  its  own  inherent  tendency,  develops  itself 
into  Popery ;  and  that  it  is  not  now,  from  itself,  tending  back 
to  that  extreme.  I  think  we  have  said  and  seen  enough,  to 
make  us  receive,  with  strong  confidence,  the  conclusions  j  that 
unsanctified  human  nature,  under  all  circumstances,  and  par- 
ticularly under  such  as  history  records,  does  tend,  violently, 
to  the  Papal  corruption  ;  that  political  influence,  when  married 
into  the  Church,  tends  forcibly  to  the  same  result ;  and  that 
superstition  and  doctrinal  error,*  as  we  see  with  our  own  sad- 
dened eyes,  may  run,  with  unmatched  velocity  along  the  beaten 
track,  both  of  our  straying  nature,  and  oif  a  mere  baptized 
political  ambition  j  but,  that  simple,  primitive  Episcopacy  it- 
self is  not  plagued  with  this  tendency  more  than  any  other 
pious  and  exemplary  Christian  ministry.  In  ruling  the  Church 
I  consider  such  an  Episcopacy  the  happiest  mean,  ever  yet 
presented,  between  the  Papal  tyranny,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
popular  misrule,  on  the  other.  In  its  very  nature,  it  has  just 
the  character,  which  fits  it  for  such  a  central  and  centralizing 
position.  Popery  accumulates  and  absorbs  power  into  itself; 
the  unrestrained  popular  element  disperses  and  destroys  it  j  a 
simple  Episcopacy,  while  it  represses  both  extremes,  binds  to- 
gether the  Body  of  Christ's  members  in  as  much  of  harmony, 
peace,  and  love  as  are  compatible  with  the  lot  of  Christ's  reli- 
gion in  the  hands  of  our  common  humanity.  Our  nature, 
both  in  individuals  and  in  society,  tends  to  extremes  j  and 
when,  with  an  enlarged  and  enlightened  view,  we  look  upon 
the  ruinous  character  of  the  extremes,  into  which,  on  either 
hand,  it  has  actually  run.  I  think  it  must  be  evident,  to  all 
judicious  minds,  that  the  Church  needs  just  such  a  centralizing 
influence  in  its  ruling  authority,  as  that,  which  was  exhibited 
in  the  ancient  Episcopacy,  before  blind  worldly  policy,  aided 
by  the  baptized  superstitions  of  Heathenism,  gathered  around 
it  the  trappings  of  earthly  power,  and  place,  and  wealth ;  and 
while,  like  its  Master,  and  from  simple  love  to  Him  and  to  the 
souls  of  men,  it  was  willing  to  walk  on  its  rounds  of  labor,  and 


*  Instances  under  this  head  it  would  be  superfluous  to  cite,  amid  the  publicity 
as  well  as  Irequency,  to  which,  in  our  day,  they  have  attained. 


GOVERNMENT.  '     177 

to  be,  in  temporal  things,  more  unprovided  than  the  foxes  in 
their  holes,  or  the  birds  of  the  air  in  their  nests.  God  hasten 
the  day,  when  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  institute  shall  return, 
not  only  in  here  and  there  a  humble,  holy  Bishop;  but  in  all, 
who  bear  his  office ;  and  when,  under  their  wise  and  paternal 
sway,  the  Church  shall  be  ruled  in  harmony,  peace,  and  love, 
according  to  the  simple  laws  of  Christ,  and  in  all  the  prosper- 
ousness  of  spiritual  life  and  growth. 

2.  After  this  rapid  glance,  let  us  now  look  at  the  second 
main  point  in  our  subject;  at  Episcopacy  as  a  teaching  in- 
stitute, or  as  ruling  the  Church  by  the  discipline  of  Truth  ; 
at  the  influence  of  Bishops  in  doctrine,  preaching,  and  example, 
on  the  body  of  the  clergy,  and  of  the  people.  This  is  the 
most  important  post  of  influence,  which  the  Christian  ministry 
can  fill.  It  is  Christ's  chief  instrumentality  for  the  salvation 
of  lost  men. 

In  his  true  character,  then,  as  humble  and  holy,  laborious 
and  Christ-like,  a  teaching  Bishop  comes  in  contact  with 
all  classes  in  the  Church,  the  old  and  the  young,  the  clergy 
and  the  people,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances ;  not 
merely  as  a  good  man  in  the  ministry,  but  as  such  a  man, 
clothed  with  the  authority,  and  surrounded  by  the  reverence, 
which  attach  themselves  to  his  ancient  and  peculiar  office ;  the 
recognized  and  venerated  teacher,  not  of  a  few,  but  of  the 
whole  flock  committed  to  his  care  ;  the  grave  and  honored 
expounder  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ  to  the  more  or  less  widely 
spread  clergy  and  people  of  his  charge.  It  is  true,  even  a 
Bishop  may  teach  error  and  exemplify  wickedness :  and  so,  with 
even  greater  facility,  may  any  other  ministry.*  This,  therefore, 
unfavorably  aff'ects  not  our  view.  Take  two  preachers  of  the 
Gospel, — equally  learned  and  able,  equally  holy  and  exem- 
plary; in  all  essential  respects  alike,  save  that  the  one  is  a 


•  The  comparatively  small  number  of  Bishops  in  a  Church,  and  the  greater 
publicity  of  their  teachings  and  manner  of  life,  keep  them  more  strictly  in  the 
eye  of  public  scrutiny,  and  render  it  more  easy  to  compare  their  doctrine  and 
conduct  with  the  standards  of  truth  and  duty,  than  can  be  the  case  with  a  more 
numerous  body  of  clergy,  each  of  whom  is  ordinarily  confined  within  the  limits 
of  a  narrower  and  more  private  sphere. 

12 


178  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

Bishop,  and  the  other  merely  an  influential  minister  among 
non-Episcopalians :  it  will,  I  apprehend,  be  impossible  so  to 
extend  and  diversify  the  Christian  labors  and  influence  of  the 
latter,  as  to  render  them  equal  in  power  and  efiiciency  on  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  with  the  similarly  ex- 
tended labors,  and  the  peculiarly  diversified  influence  of  the 
former.  He  has  not  the  same  point  of  advantage,  from  which 
to  act.  He  carries  not  with  him,  in  the  peculiar  genius  of  his 
ofiice,  the  same  silent,  but  living  and  deep-felt  power  for  good. 
This  comparison  is  not  intended  to  depreciate  the  blessed 
power  of  the  able  and  holy  man  of  God,  in  the  ofiice  of  such  a 
minister ;  but  to  show  that  it  is  simply  impossible  to  clothe 
him  with  all  the  means  for  good,  which  invest  the  equally  holy 
and  able  man  of  God  in  the  ofiice  of  a  Bishop.  In  his  doctrine 
and  in  his  teaching ;  in  his  example  and  in  his  active  measures 
for  the  extension  of  true  religion,  there  is  a  peculiarity  of  in- 
fluence about  such  a  Bishop,  to  which  no  other  minister  of 
Christ  can  attain.  It  is,  of  course,  a  peculiarity,  which  grows, 
not  out  of  the  man,  but  out  of  his  office,  and  out  of  the  adapted- 
ness,  in  which  that  office  meets  certain  great  and  permanent 
susceptibilities  in  our  common  nature.  Say  what  we  will,  we 
cannot  take  out  of  our  nature  the  salutary  feelings  of  deference 
and  respect,  with  which  it  stands  in  the  presence  of  just  and 
fitting,  and  rightly  constituted  superiority  of  official  rank ;  a 
superiority  of  rank,  not  so  high  as  to  inspire  awe,  and  a  pain- 
ful sense  of  distance  ;  nor  yet  depressed  so  nearly  to  the  com- 
mon grade,  or  to  the  idea  of  a  mere  gift  from  the  people,  as  to 
breed  familiarity,  or  generate  contempt.  In  spite  of  theories, 
our  nature  dreads  the  monotony  of  an  unbroken  level.  A 
beautiful  and  harmonious  ascent  of  being  and  of  orders  marks 
all  God's  works  in  heaven  and  on  earth;  and  it  is  impossible  to 
extinguish  the  feelings,  which  spontaneously  spring  up  in  the 
manifested  presence  of  this  divine  constitution  of  things.  A 
pure  Gospel,  and  the  religion,  which  it  imbodies,  spread  to  the 
best  advantage  from  such  a  Bishop  as  I  have  described.  He  has 
the  best  opportunities  for  impressing  the  holy  character  of 
Christ  and  His  Gospel  upon  wide  masses  of  men,  and  upon  all 
the  living  institutes  and  permanencies  of  the  Church.     The 


GOVERNMENT.  179 

point  of  influence,  from  which  he  acts,  gives  him  the  best 
means  of  "  driving  away  from  the  Church  all  erroneous  and 
strange  doctrines,  contrary  to  God's  Word."  He  is  not  so  far 
off  from  his  clergy  and  people  but  that  he  can  see  and  measure 
error  and  its  evils  with  his  own  eyes,  and  remove  them  by  such 
means  as  are  wisest  and  best ;  nor  yet,  so  nearly  on  an  equality 
with  them  in  conceded  authority  and  influence  as  to  strip  his 
discipline  of  its  just  power  for  effect.  He  is,  I  venture  to 
affirm,  the  happiest  instrumentality  for  religious  good,  which 
the  Church  has  ever  known,  or  the  world  ever  felt.  He  con- 
centrates confidence,  veneration,  love  ;  he  awakens  respect, 
reverence,  obedience  ;  he  promotes  harmony,  zeal,  action ;  and 
he  does  all  with  a  peculiarity  of  success  to  which,  as  I  venture 
to  suppose,  no  one,  under  other  forms  of  the  ministry,  can  at- 
tain J  to  which  no  one  in  the  lower  orders  of  an  Episcopally 
constituted  ministry  itself  can  attain ;  which  springs  from  the 
fact  that  there  are  lower  orders  in  this  ministry ;  and  which,  in 
truth,  is  partly  but  the  power  of  these  lower  orders  working 
upwards,  and  becoming  manifest  in  the  results  of  this  benignly 
effective  Presidency. 

The  main  objection  to  this  view,  will,  I  suppose,  be  found  in 
the  allegation,  that  the  office  of  a  Bishop  has  too  much  power, 
too  strong  attractions  for  the  mere  worldly  heart  in  its  love  of 
authority  and  of  official  consideration  ;  and  that,  therefore, 
Bishops  are  more  liable  to  become  worldly  in  spirit  and  cor- 
rupt in  doctrine,  and  consequently  baleful  in  their  influence  on 
the  cause  of  spiritual  religion,  than  a  ministry  constituted  on 
the  basis  of  official  parity.  If  the  Episcopal  office  were  in- 
deed and  intrinsically  identified  with  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance, the  wealth  and  political  power,  which,  in  some  coun- 
tries, have  been  associated  with  it,  there  would  be  weight  in 
the  objection.  But  such  is  not  the  case.  These  corrupting 
influences  belong  not  to  the  office  itself,  so  much  as  to  the  cir- 
cumstances with  which  worldly  influence  has  surrounded  the 
office.  The  love  of  power  is  innate,  ineradicable,  and,  unless 
under  the  control  of  divine  grace,  inordinate.  To  the  human 
heart  office  is  nothing,  but  as  it  is  a  means  for  acquiring,  or  an 


180  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

instrument  for  exercising,  the  power  which  it  loves.  And  even 
as  such  a  means,  or  instrument,  it  is,  perhaps,  of  less  importance 
than  many  suppose.  The  main  sources  of  power  We. within  a 
man  ;  and  when  the  spring  is  deep  and  copious,  if  it  do  not  find^ 
it  will  soon /orce  a  channel  for  its  gushings.  When  the  love 
of  power  is  strong,  if  it  do  not  meet,  it  will  easily  make,  an 
office,  into  which  it  may  vault  and  ride  on  high  among  the 
people.  And  when  human  ambition  makes  an  office  for  itself, 
it  is  somewhat  apt  to  make  it  higher  than  God,  in  his  wisdom, 
has  seen  fit  to  ordain.*  So  far,  then,  as  the  theory  of  the 
Episcopal  office  is  concerned,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  said  that 
where  no  due  gradation  in  the  ministry  is  established  and  con- 
ceded, the  ambitions  which  live  deep  in  our  nature,  and  the 
consequent  difficulty  of  maintaining  simple  equality  among 
masses  of  men  of  varying  abilities  and  susceptibilities,  will  be 
more  likely  to  engender  strifes  after  superiority  of  place  and 
power,  than  where  such  a  gradation  in  the-  ministry  is  es- 
tablished and  conceded,  and  where  the  very  fixedness  of  insti- 
tutions tends,  so  far  as  any  thing  can  tend,  to  generate  a  spirit 
of  quiet  submission  and  contentment  of  mind  under  the  reign 
of  lawful  and  acknowledged  order. 

The  best  illustration  both  of  the  theory  and  of  the  working 
of  true  Episcopacy  may,  perhaps,  be  gathered  from  the  earliest 
ages  of  the  Church.  What,  then,  was  a  Bishop  designed  to 
be  1  What  was  he  in  the  pristine  days  of  his  office  1  I  an- 
swer, the  most  conspicuous  follower  of  Christ,  as  well  in  pov- 
erty and  sufferings  as  in  the  aboundings  of  his  toils  for  the 
souls  of  men  ;  the  very  front  mark  in  the  Christian  army  to  the 
arrow  of  the  destroyer  and  the  sword  of  the  persecutor. 
♦'  Nolo  Episcopari,"  "  I  desire  not  to  be  a  Bishop,"  was  then 
the  utterance,  not  of  a  counterfeit  or  a  false  modesty,  but  of  a 
human  heart,   speaking  out   of  its   deepest   sensibilities,  and 

*  I  am  willing  thai  this  should  be  npplied  to  the  causes,  which  set  in  the 
Church  Arch-bishops,  Patriarchs,  and  Popes.  These,  as  I  have  shewn,  are  not 
naturally  developed  Episcopacy  ;  ihey  are  man's  aspirings,  vaulting  above 
primitive  Order:  and,  had  that  Order  been  Presbytcrial,  the  leap  upwart}-;- 
■would  have  been  quite  as  possible,  and  but  little  higher. 


GOVERNMENT.  18 1 

meaning  that,  "  if  the  Master  would  mercifully  excuse  his  ser- 
vant, he  would  prefer  laboring  in  less  observed  and  less  peril- 
ous posts  of  duty."  The  Episcopal  office  was  not  sought  by 
the  worldly  or  the  ambitious  then;  it  could  not  be  urged  on 
any  but  those  who  were  constrained,  by  love  for  Christ  and 
for  the  souls  of  men,  to  "  count  all  things  but  loss,"  and  to  be 
counted  as  but  the  "  ofFscouring  of  all  things."  Then  the  influ- 
ence of  the  office  was  not  corrupting  but  purifying.  It  drew, 
into  that  front  ministry,  none  but  the  choicest  of  the  fine  gold  ; 
and  it  drew  that  gold  thither  but  to  refine  it  still  more  perfectly, 
as  in  a  furnace  of  fire  !  Those  days  will  never  return ;  but 
the  time  may  come — God  send  it  soon — when  the  office  of  a 
Bishop  shall  have  nothing — (in  our  own  country  it  now  has  little 
indeed) — to  attract  the  heart,  but  superior  opportunities  of 
doing  good  in  the  salvation  of  men,  amid  more  abounding  toils, 
privations  and  hardships,  endured  from  love  to  the  dear  Savior 
of  our  souls,  and  to  those  for  whom  He  so  freely  shed  His  own 
precious  blood.  The  idea,  wherever  it  prevails,  that  the  dig- 
nity of  this  office  must  be  maintained  by  surrounding  it  with 
the  adventitious  array  of  wealth  and  titles,  seems  like  an  im- 
putation on  the  lowly  Jesus,  and  to  be  born  of  a  mere  earthly 
conception  of  the  dignity  in  view ;  as  if  the  work  of  Christ  and 
the  office  of  His  chief  ambassador  did  not  shine  brightest  and 
most  heavenly  when  seen,  like  the  stars,  at  night;  surround- 
ed, if  need  be,  by  the  darkness  of  poverty,  and  of  a  wicked 
world's  frown  !  True  Bishops  need  not  court  either  poverty 
or  persecution  ;  neither  should  they  ignobly  shun  them  ;  and, 
least  of  all,  should  they  covet  equality  with  the  great  of  this 
world  in  the  external  circumstances  of  wealth  and  power. — 
Their  influence  will  be  most  extended  and  most  benign,  when, 
in  character  and  labors,  they  are  most  like  Christ ;  and  when 
they  partake  most  largely  in  the  spirit  of  him  who  "  rejoiced 
in  his  sufferings  for  the  brethren,  and  in  filling  up  what  Avas 
behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ,  for  His  Body's  sake,  which 
k  the  Church."  * 

*  CoL  i  J  24. 


182  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

Such,  then,  is  the  Episcopacy  which  I  advocate,  separated 
from  Avhat  belongs  not  to  it,  save  in  common  with  other  sys- 
tems;  from  what  springs  out  of  corrupt  nature  itself,  and  out 
of  the  unfriendly  circumstances  of  which  history  takes  note. 
It  is  as  proper  to  limit  our  views  to  such  an  Episcopacy,  as,  in 
estimating  the  value  of  other  forms  of  the  ministry,  to  suppose 
those  who  fill  them  to  be  good  men.  In  estimating  the  value 
of  any  particular  constitution  of  the  ministry,  no  one  would 
go  on  the  supposition  that  its  incumbents  were  bad  men,  or 
even  needlessly  embarrassed  with  obstructions  hostile  to  their 
proper  usefulness.  Let  it  be  recalled  to  mind  that  other  con- 
stitutions of  the  ministry,  as  well  as  Episcopacy,  are  liable  to 
dangerous  corruptions  and  abuses ;  and  that,  if  anyone  of  them 
had  descended  to  our  times  through  as  long  and  as  adverse  a 
period  as  that  through  which  Episcopacy  has  come  down,  it 
would,  doubtless,  have  developed  evils,  if  not  the  same,  at 
least  as  great,  as  those  which  have  clustered  round  this  same 
Episcopacy  itself.  We  have  viewed  this  institution  as  it 
ought  to  be  j  as  it  was  in  its  pristine  age ;  as  it  has  been  since 
in  unnumbered  glorious  instances  ;  as  it  now  is  in  multitudes 
of  instances  scarcely  less  glorious  ;  and,  as  we  firmly  believe  it 
will  be  every  where,  when  the  abuses  of  the  ages,  already  so 
inconsiderable  among  ourselves,  shall  all  be  swept  away  ;  and 
when  the  perpetuated  and  venerated  blessings  of  the  Episco- 
pacy of  elder  times  shall  be  seen  opening  the  rich  stores  with 
which  it  has  come  freighted  downwards  to  our  day,  and  pour- 
ing them  into  the  lap  of  a  thankful  Church,  and  upon  the  head 
of  a  once  unthankful  world. 

Is  not  Episcopacy,  then,  thus  viewed,  pre-eminently  good  in 
both  its  offices,  that  of  ruling  the  Church  by  the  discipline  of 
ORDER,  and  that  of  molding  Christians  by  the  discipline  of 
TRUTH  ;  of  ruling  the  Church  on  the  middle  ground  between 
the  two  extremes  of  Papal  tyranny  and  of  popular  misrule  ; 
and  of  disciplining  Christians  in  the  doctrines  of  life,  both  by 
driving  out  hurtful  and  strange  error,  and  by  giving  its  most 
benign  and  powerful  action  to  saving,  heavenly  truth  1  We 
have  necessarily  taken  but  a  very  partial  survey  of  a  great 


GOVERNMENT  183 

subject,  but  we  have,  I  think,  seen  enough  to  commend  the 
institution  which  we  have  examined  to  every  sound  and  judi- 
cious, to  every  serious  and  spiritual  mind.  We,  at  least,  shall 
never  cast  away  what  we  believe  to  be  apostolic  in  its  origin, 
merely  because  a  wicked  world  has  abused  it  in  its  descent;  but, 
clinging  to  it  for  its  own  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  its  founders, 
will  labor  to  save  it  yet  for  a  jarring  earth,  as  one  among  the 
richest  and  most  conservative  of  benefits  from  Heaven. 


DISCOURSE  XII. 


"  The  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth." — 
John  iv ;  23. 


After  concluding  the  argument  upon  the  true  comprehen- 
sion of  the  Church  Universal,  I  proposed  to  touch  upon  two 
other  topics,  which,  though  not  strictly  belonging  to  the  com- 
prehension, are,  nevertheless,  connected  with  the  general  sub- 
ject, of  the  Church.  To  one  of  these  topics  I  was  led  by  some 
remarks  on  a  passage  from  Heb.  xiii  5  17.  I  shall  be  led  to  the 
other  by  some  observations  on  a  passage  in  John  iv ;  23. — 
"  The  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  Spirit  and 
in  Truth." 

These  words  of  Christ  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  exhibit 
the  character  of  the  true  worshiper  of  God  in  all  places  and 
in  all  ages. 

Worship,  in  its  outward  manifestations,  like  government  in 
its  varying  forms,  has  every  where  and  always  been  a  function 
of  the  Church  Universal.  Though  no  one  form  of  worship 
can  be  used  as  a  mark,  by  which  to  ascertain  the  true  compre- 
hension of  the  Church,  yet  no  part  of  the  Visible  Church  has 
ever  been  without  worship  in  some  form.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
said  with  truth,  that  the  Church  is  essentially  a  worshiping 

BODY. 

The  requisites  to  all  acceptable  worship  are  stated  with  ad- 
mirable precision  by  Him  who  "  spake  as  never  man  spoke." 
Such  worship  must  ever  be  "  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth"    It  must 


186  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

be  "  in  Spirit,"  as  consisting,  not  merely  in  outward  form  and 
ceremony,  not  merely  in  external  offerings  and  sacrifices ;  but 
also  in  an  inward  and  spiritual  act,  in  an  earnest  engagement 
of  mind  and  heart,  in  the  strong,  spiritual  exercises  of  the 
soul  itself.  It  must  also  be  "  in  Truth,"  as  well  as  "  in  Spirit :" 
in  Truth,  as  involving  sincerity,  and  as  opposed  to  hypocrisy, 
and  to  all  mistaken  or  artificial  excitement  of  the  mind  and 
feelings ;  in  Truth,  as  being  really  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
Truth,  and  essentially  based  on  right  views  of  the  true  God, 
and  of  the  truths  which  He  has  revealed.  All,  who  worship 
God  "  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth,"  as  these  terms  have  now  been 
explained,  are  accepted  of  him ;  and  none  others  can  be.  He 
"  seeketh  such  to  worship  Him,"  and  with  none  but  such  can 
He  be  pleased.  All  outward  forms  of  worship,  when  vacated 
of  this  Spirit  and  this  Truth,  are  but  as  a  smoke  in  His  nostrils, 
an  offence  to  His  eye,  and  an  insult  to  His  ear.  He  "is  a 
Spirit,"  and,  as,  such,  looketh  right  through  all  outward  acts 
and  forms,  and  sees  whether  they  are  filled  with  what  is,  like 
Himself,  Spirit  and  Truth  ;  or  whether,  harmonizing  with  the 
character  of  the  hypocrite,  the  formalist,  or  the  visionary,  they 
are  but  the  empty  mockery  of  the  knee,  the  lip,  and  the  eye, 
or  as  the  glare  of  a  false  fire. 

From  this,  however,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  the  forms, 
in  which  worship  is  offered,  are,  in  themselves,  matters  of  no 
importance.  The  true,  silent  worship  of  the  soul  is  a  sublime 
offering,  and  goes  up  to  God  as  an  "  incense  of  a  sweet  smell- 
ing savor."  But,  in  the  action  of  the  Visible  Church,  it  can 
never  take  the  place  of  a  worship,  expressing  itself  in  some 
appropriate  outward  form.  It  is,  therefore,  an  inquiry  of  much 
interest,  in  what  form  this  worship  may  best  be  offered  1  In 
proposing  this  inquiry,  let  me  be  understood  as  speaking  of  the 
worship,  not  of  the  closet,  nor  of  the  family,  nor  of  the  vol- 
untary social  circle,  but  of  the  Church  in  its  public,  stated, 
ordained  services.  In  what  form,  then,  may  this  worship  be 
most  advantageously  offered  1  Unless  we  adopt  the  theory  of 
a  silent  worship,  some  form  the  Church  must  necessarily  have. 
Is  that  form,  then,  the  best,  which,  by  proper  ecclesiastical 
authority,  has  been  previously  settled  and  enjoined,  or  that, 


WORSHIP.  187 

which,  so  far  as  its  incidental  clothing  of  words  is  concerned, 
may  be  called  extejiporaxeous  1 

I  put  the  question  in  this  shape,  because  I  am  free  to  confess 
that  the  Bible  does  not,  by  explicit,  or  binding  precept,  settle 
any  thing  as  to  the  form  in  which  the  worship  of  the  Church 
must  be  offered.  The  absence  of  binding  scriptural  authority, 
for  any  one  form  of  public  worship,  is  so  manifest,  that  the 
American,  following  herein  the  English,  Preface  to  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  has  laid  it  down  as  the  ground  of  one  of 
its  rules;  that  "the  particular  forms  of  Divine  Worship  are 
things,  in  their  own  nature,  indifferent  and  alterable,  and  so 
acknowledged."  As  any  individual,  family,  or  social  circle  is 
at  liberty  to  worship  either  with  or  without  a  previously  set- 
tled form,  so,  any  organized  Visible  Church  has  the  same  liber- 
ty when  engaged  in  settling  this  question  for  itself.  It  may 
adopt  either  the  one  form  or  the  other ;  and  having  done  so,  it 
may  change  the  one  for  the  other,  provided,  that,  in  such 
change,  it  act,  as  our  Preface  expresses  the  provision,  "  by 
common  consent  and  authority." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  our  branch  of  the  Church  Universal, 
following,  in  this  respect,  general  custom,  has  enjoined  wor- 
ship by  a  form  previously  settled  and  enjoined ;  and  that, 
until  "  by  common  consent  and  authority,"  this  form  be  alter- 
ed or  abolished,  it  is  not  admissible  for  us,  as  a  Church,  to  wor- 
ship in  any  other  way  than  that  prescribed. 

It  is  almost  as  needless  to  say,  that  worship  by  such  a  previ- 
ously settled  form  may  be  offered,  as  God  requires,  "in  spirit 
AND  IN  TRUTH."  No  Spiritually  enlightened  and  really  candid 
mind  will  deny  or  doubt  the  truth  of  this  remark.  The  facts 
that  the  worship  both  of  the  Temple  and  of  the  Synagogue 
was  by  such  a  form,  and  that  the  holy  Jesus  v/as  in  the  habit 
of  joining  it  in  both  places,  forever  settle  this  point ;  and 
should  put  the  seal  of  silence  on  the  lip  of  every  one  who  ob- 
jects that  worship  by  such  a  form  is  opposed,  or  unfriendly,  to 
worship  "  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth."  Either  such  a  form  is  con- 
gruous with  these  interior  requisites  ;  or  Christ  has  sanctioned 
by  His  example  what,  by  His  words,  He  has  condemned. 

These  points,  then,  thus  briefly  disposed  of,  it  is  my  purpose 


188  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

in  this  discourse,  to  treat  of  what  I  regard  as  a  chief  advantage 
of  an  authorized  and  enjoined  form  in  the  public,  stated  worship 
of  the  Church. 

In  doing  this,  it  is  not  necessary  to  sympathize — I  acknow- 
ledge that  I  do  not  sympathize — in  many  of  the  common  stric- 
tures passed  upon  worship  in  an  extemporaneous  form.  We 
may  think  and  admit — for  myself  I  freely  confess  to  such 
thoughts  and  admissions — that,  following  simple  nature  taught 
and  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  heart  is  strongly  inclined  to 
pour  forth  its  emotions  and  desires,  its  faith  and  its  love,  into 
the  bosom  and  upon  the  ear  of  God,  in  the  unstudied  language 
of  gushing  earnestness  and  affection  ;  and  that  worship  thus  of- 
fered, whether  in  secret  or  in  public,  is  highly  acceptable  to 
Him  "  that  looketh  on  the  heart."  We  may  take  this  view 
and  make  tliese  admissions  without  touching  the  real  merits  of 
the  question,  whether,  in  the  public,  stated  worship  of  the 
Church,  the  advantages  of  a  previously  settled  and  enjoined 
mode  preponderate  over  those  of  an  extemporaneous  form. 
This  question  must  be  settled,  not  by  reference  to  what  simple 
nature,  influenced  by  divine  grace,  would  prompt  the  heart  to 
do  by  itself,  but  by  a  reference  to  what  is  demanded  by  the 
complex  and,  in  its  simplest  form,  artificial,  structure  of  the 
Church ;  by  the  involved  and  multiform  interests  and  influences 
of  its  social  organization. 

In  examining  this  point,  the  view  generally  taken,  as  in  the 
treatise  of  the  philosophic  Dr.  Paley,  virtually  supposes  the 
mind  of  the  Church  to  be,  in  the  main,  at  rest :  that  is,  in  a 
state  of  religious  repose,  which  renders  it  a  fit  subject  for  the 
just  development  of  the  comparative  excellences  of  the  two 
forms  of  worship.  And  if  the  mind  of  the  Church  could  al- 
ways be  kept  in  such  a  state,  this  would  be  the  true  light  in 
which  to  view  the  subject.  But  the  mind  of  the  Church  is  not 
always,  nor  generally,  in  such  a  state.  From  within  itself  and 
from  without,  it  is  often  excited,  put  in  motion,  and  driven,  if 
not  into  progress,  at  least  towards  change.  In  these  states  of 
mind,  too,  it  frequently  happens,  so  far  as  the  mass  of  individ- 
uals is  affected,  that  theological  views  are  shifting,  doctrines 
are  in  transition,  faith  is  unsettled,  and  customs  are  upheaved. 


WORSHIP.  189 

These,  therefore,  would  seem  to  be  the  periods,  most  proper 
for  testing  the  comparative  value  of  the  two  forms  of  public 
worship  in  the  Church.  I  shall  look  at  the  subject  with  spe- 
cial reference  to  such  a  state  of  things.  Such  a  state  now  ex- 
ists ;  has  long  existed ;  and  has  affected,  not  one  part  alone,  but 
the  whole,  of  Protestant  Christendom.  It  may  be  added,  that, 
except  when  its  spiritual  life  has  either  become  stagnant  amid 
the  corruptions  of  error,  superstition,  and  worldliness  ;  or  been 
raised  to  a  point  of  purity  and  power  seldom,  if  ever,  realized 
on  earth ;  the  Church  is  never  wholly  free  from  the  influence 
of  such  a  state  in  the  agitations  and  tendencies  of  what  may 
be  termed  its  general  mind. 

In  approaching  now,  the  point  of  comparison  before  us,  it 
is  necessary  that  we  obtain  a  previous,  distinct  view  of  what, 
in  all  public  worship,  is  the  tkue  attitude  of  the  really  de- 
votional MIND. 

What  is  this  attitude  "?  I  reply :  The  really  devotional  mind, 
engaged  in  public  worship,  is,  not  in  the  intellectualhj  critical, 
but,  in  what,  for  the  sake  of  graphic  brevity,  I  would  denomi- 
nate the  amen-saying  state.  In  other  words,  such  a  mind  is  not 
in  a  frame  which  inclines  it  to  pause  ;  to  question  every  utter- 
ance of  him  who  leads  its  devotions  ;  to  compare  every  such 
utterance  with  the  standard  of  truth  ;  and  so  to  judge  whether 
or  not  it  cover  a  heresy :  but,  it  is  in  a  frame  which  inclines  it 
to  repose,  with  sweet  confidence,  on  the  soundness  of  its  leader  ; 
to  catch  his  utterances  as  they  flow  warm  from  his  heart  and  his 
lip ;  and,  with  a  constant  and  impulsive,  though  silent,  "a??2e?i,"  to 
speed  them  upwards  to  the  Throne  on  the  swelling  importunity 
of  a  people's  prayer.  This  is  the  true  attitude  of  the  really  de- 
votional mind  in  all  public  worship.  Any  other  attitude  is  unfit- 
ting the  occasion.  It  is  but  turning  worship  into  an  exercise,  and 
a  tra  ning,  of  the  mere  critical  intellect.  I  say,  not  merely  that 
such  should  be,  but  that  such  is,  the  true  attitude  of  the  really 
devotional  mind.  It  is  the  attitude  which  such  a  mind  actually 
seeks  and  maintains.  When  it  changes  this  attitude  for  some 
other,  it  ceases  to  be  a  devotional,  and  becomes  a  critical,  spec- 
ulative, or  discursive  mind,  or  a  mind  in  some  other  attitude 
equally  foreign  from  the  true  spirit  of  public  worship. 


190  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

I.  As  acting,  then,  on  this  true  attitude  of  a  really  devotion- 
al spirit,  let  us  look,  in  the  first  place,  at  the  tendency  of  an 
EXTEMPORANEOUS  mode  of  public  worship,  during  such  a  period 
of  movement  in  the  mind  of  the  Church  as  that,  which  we 
have  contemplated. 

A  deep,  perhaps  a  still  and,  by  the  mass,  unnoticed  current 
of  speculation  and  threatened  change  is  running  through  the 
ecclesiastical  mind.  The  minister  of  a  congregation,  worship- 
ing extemporaneously,  falls  into  this  current ;  moves  with  it ; 
and  is,  in  fact,  one  of  those  who  intelligently,  or  by  sympa- 
thetic influence,  guide  its  course.  If,  now,  he  be  conscious  of 
the  change,  which  is  agitating  the  mind  of  the  Church,  and 
which  is  passing  in  his  own  j  and  if,  withal,  he  be  an  honest 
and  a  bold  man  ;  he  may,  and  probably  will,  utter  his  new 
convictions  in  his  public  devotions  ;  and  thus,  if  those  new 
convictions  belong  to  what  his  Church  deems  heterodoxy,  or 
error,  he  may  be  detected  ;  and,  unless  his  congregation  sym- 
pathise with  him,  he  may,  by  an  act  of  discipline,  be  removed 
from  his  post  of  influence.  But  if,  as  it  will  probably  happen, 
he  be,  at  first,  without  a  distinct  consciousness  of  the  neverthe- 
less real  change,  which  is  passing  in  his  mind  ;  and  if,  though 
an  honest,  he  be  yet  a  timid  man  j  more  especially,  if,  as  it 
may  happen,  he  be  a  man  of  unscrupulous  conscience,  who 
knows  what  he  is  doing  j  who  intends  to  lead  the  Church,  so 
far  as  his  influence  extends,  away  from  its  fixed  and  ancient 
landmarks  of  faith  and  doctrine  ;  and  who,  in  the  fervor  and 
strength  of  his  new  convictions,  deems  it  right  to  effect  his 
great  and,  in  his  own  estimation,  good  end,  by  politic  and  art- 
ful means  ;  then,  evidentl}^,  a  plain  and  easy  way  lies  open  for 
his  entrance. 

While  his  people,  at  worship,  are  in  what  I  have  described 
as  the  true  attitude  of  the  devotional  mind  ;  looking  upon  their 
common  leader  in  prayer  as  also  their  authorized  teacher  in 
doctrine  ;  sweetly  confiding  in  his  guidance  of  their  devotions ; 
unsuspectingly  drinking  at  the  stream  of  worshiping  thought, 
as  it  flows  from  his  lips  ;  appropriating  his  utterances  as  their 
OWN  ;  and  sending  them  up,  with  their  silent  'Abiens,'  to  God; 
while  they  are  waiting  upon  him  in  this  spirit,  he  at  first,  either 


WORSHIP.  191 

unconsciously,  or  by  design,  omits,  not  only  in  teaching,  but 
especially  in  devotion,  all  reference  to  those  old  and  distinc- 
tive truths  of  the  Gospel,  in  which  the  ancient  doctrinal  land- 
marks of  his  Church  had  been  set  up.  What  follows  1  In  a 
few  years,  these  distinctive  truths  lose,  by  simple  neglect,  their 
practical  importance  and  hold  on  the  mind ;  a  dimness  settles 
on  the  spiritual  perceptions  of  the  flock ;  and  all  that  once,  in 
their  view,  constituted  the  peculiarity  of  the  Christian's  faith, 
lies  as  if  under  a  dense  and  distant  fog.  At  length,  as  his  own 
convictions  change  and  strengthen,  and  fill  him  with  the  im- 
pulses of  their  new-born  force,  or  as  he  observantly  finds  the 
way  prepared  for  a  further  movement  j  he  Avorshipingly  yields 
to  those  convictions,  and  begins  to  advance  the  new  views,  to 
which  he  has  been  led,  not,  at  first,  in  a  full  and  startling 
dress,  but  in  a  softened  and  unsuspicious  form.  The  devotion- 
al mind  has  already  become  accustomed  to  the  absence  of  old 
forms  of  faith  and  doctrine  :  it  now  becomes  easily  familiar 
with  the  presence  of  the  new  phase  of  theology  ;  exhibiting,  as 
it  yet  does,  much  that  is  plausible,  or  not  incompatible  with 
accredited  views.  The  way  is  now  prepared  for  a  still  further 
movement.  Under  the  growing  change,  which  has  seized  it, 
the  mind  of  the  people  becomes  distinctly  conscious  of  a  posi- 
tive dislike  for  what  it  can  recall  of  the  old  orthodoxy.  It 
therefore  endures,  with  somewhat  like  real  relish,  the  fuller 
and  bolder  invectives  against  that  system,  which  begin  to  be 
hazarded,  even  in  teaching  j  and  which,  perhaps  unconsciously, 
partake  somewhat  of  the  extravagance  of  caricature.  In  this 
state  of  mind,  the  full  result  of  the  movement  has  approached 
the  birth.  The  work  of  change  becomes  complete  ;  and  both 
minister  and  people  finish  their  transition  by  passing,  openly 
and  avowedly,  into  some  one  of  the  new,  erroneous,  and  per- 
haps fatal  theologic  systems  of  the  day.  A  minority,  it  may 
be,  remain  steadfast  in  their  old  faith  :  but  this  only  insures  a 
new  division  in  the  Church ;  the  organization  of  a  new  and 
feeble  congregation  ,•  and,  peradventure,  an  excited  legal  con- 
test about  the  temporalities,  which  such  a  division  involves. 
Which  way  soever  this  contest  is  decided,  the  body  of  the  con- 
gregation is  led  off  from  its  former  faith  j  and,  if  the  change 


192  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

be,  as  supposed,  from  truth  to  error,  the  Christian  scheme  is 
either  partially,  or  fundamentally  subverted ;  and  the  living 
efficiencies  of  the  Gospel,  seriously,  perhaps  fatally,  nullified. 

I  present  this  view, — not  as  against  the  private  liberty  of  any 
man  to  form,  or  to  alter,  his  personal  faith  on  his  personal  re- 
sponsibility to  God  ; — much  less  as  actuated  by^a  desire  to  ex- 
cite unpleasant  or  unkind  feelings  in  others  ; — but,  as  against 
the  stability  of  the  public  and  settled  faith  of  the  Church  ,  and 
as  calculated  to  shew  the  operation  of  the  extemporaneous 
mode  of  worship  under  given  circumstances  of  the  case.  To 
my  mind,  the  view  taken  explains  a  large  class  of  facts  famil- 
iar to  multitudes  of  the  past,  and  of  the  present  age.  If  the 
faith  of  Churches,  organized  on  the  Congregational,  or  Inde- 
pendent basis,  have  been  more  frequently  overthrown  by  the 
influence,  or  the  co-operation,  of  this  mode  of  worship,  than 
that  of  other  bodies  worshiping  in  the  same  mode,  it  is  simply, 
as  I  infer,  because  the  Congregational,  or  Independent  system 
of  government  makes  each  organized  worshiping  assembly  a 
separate  Church,  with  the  powers  of  government  and  discipline 
complete  in  itself,  and  subject  to  little  or  no  controlling,  or 
even  revising  oversight  from  other  and  similarly  organized 
bodies.  The  tendency,  or  liability,  to  such  a  subversion  of 
the  faith,  it  is  evident,  exists  wherever  this  form  of  worship  is 
adopted  j — and  the  results  of  the  tendency  are  exhibited,  I  ap- 
prehend, with  more  or  less  distinctness,  through  all  the  spread- 
ings  of  the  system. 

II.  Let  us  now,  in  the  second  place,  look  at  the  tendency  of 
public  worship  by  a  form,  previously  settled  and  enjoined,  as 
acting  on  the  true  devotional  spirit,  during  the  same  supposed 
period  of  excitement  and  of  threatened  change  in  the  mind  of 
the  Church. 

By  way  of  preparation,  however,  for  such  a  view,  it  is  pro- 
per to  state  the  only  ground,  on  which  a  truly  enlightened 
Christian  will  attempt  to  defend  the  use  of  such  a  form.  For 
a  form,  in  the  abstract,  such  a  Christian  can  have  no  overween- 
ing fondness.  His  defence  must  rest  on  the  principles  and 
character  of  the  particular  form  to  be  adopted. 

In  seeking,  then,  the  grounds  of  his  defence,  he  will  demand 


WORSHIP.  193 

that  such  a  form,  besides  being  constructed  on  just  logical 
principles,  and  in  conformity  with  those  of  a  simple,  pure,  and 
unchanging  taste ;  besides  comprehending  all  the  ordinary 
wants  of  a  worshiping  congregation,  and  providing  reasonably 
for  all  special  occasions  of  public  petition  to  God  ;  besides  be- 
ing filled  with  true  and  ennobling,  attractive  and  inspiring 
views  of  God,  and  with  the  very  spirit  of  humble  and  rever- 
ential, fervent  and  heavenly  devotion  from  man  ;  shall  imbody 
all  the  great  and  essential,  unchanging  and  saving  verities  of 
the  Gospel,  free  from  any  dangerous  admixtures  of  human 
error.  I  mean  not  that  a  Liturgy  should  be  filled  with  dog- 
matic theology  ;  that  it  should  be  modeled  on  the  ordinary 
forms  of  teaching,  or  consist  of  turning  prayers  into  preach- 
ing J  that  it  should  recognize  doubtful,  especially  if  they  be 
unessential  points  in  Divinity  ;  or  that  it  should  present  even 
the  essential,  fundamental  verities  of  the  Gospel  in  aught  of  a 
doctrinal  or  controversial  dress ;  but  that  it  should  be  based  on 
all  these  great  verities  as  its  foundation;  that  it  should  use 
them  all  devotionally  ;  that  it  should  work  them  all  into  its 
confessions  and  petitions,  its  thanksgivings  and  intercessions, 
its  ascriptions  and  adorations,  its  anthems  and  hymns ;  and  that 
in  the  power  and  sweet-savor,  and  prevalency  of  them  all,  it 
should  ascend,  a~nd  seek  to  make  our  worshiping  hearts  ascend, 
to  the  throne,  and  the  ear,  and  the  heart  of  Him  that  heareth 
and  answereth  His  true  people's  prayer. 

A  Liturgy  should  thus  im.body  these  living  truths,  free 
from  all  dangerous  admixtures  of  human  error,  because,  if  it 
exclude  these  truths,  especially  if,  while  retaining,  it  overlay 
them  with  such  an  admixture  of  error,  the  very  reason,  which 
commends  the  use  of  a  Liturgy  rightly  constructed,  would 
legislate  against  it,  and  banish  it  utterly  from  the  devotions  of 
a  redeemed  and  worshiping  flock.  A  Liturgy,  thus  falsely 
constructed,  would  either  want  the  soul  of  a  true  Christian 
worship,  or  stereotype  error  in  its  most  imperishable  forms,  on 
the  hearts  and  the  habits,  the  memory  and  the  mind  of  far- 
reaching  generations.  Were  the  use  of  such  Liturgies  as 
might  be  named  to  become  universal  in  the  Church,  we  might 
probably  say  with  truth,  that  it  had  been  better  for  "  the  faith 
13 


194  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

once  delivered  to  the  Saints,"  had  the  Printing  Art  lain  undis- 
covered ;  had  the  pen  never  traced  a  letter  beyond  the  inspired 
pao-e  ;  and  had  the  true  servants  of  Christ  been  left,  with 
nothino-  but  the  Bible  and  the  Spirit  to  teach,  and  with  nothing 
but  their  own  hearts  and  tongues  to  tell  out,  their  adoring 
thoughts  and  their  in-felt  wants  to  God. 

Whether  the  Liturgy  which  we  use  be  constructed  accord- 
ino-  to  the  principles  just  stated  I  cannot  stop  minutely  to 
inquire.  I  am  willing  to  leave  this  question  to  all  fair  and 
candid  minds,  even  among  those,  who,  on  the  whole,  prefer  an 
extemporaneous  worship.  It  is  enough  for  my  present  pur- 
pose to  say,  that  our  Liturgy  has  received,  from  many  of  the 
most  enlightened  and  pious  of  Evangelical  Christians  of  other 
names,  the  highest  and  most  eloquent  commendations  on  the 
ground  of  its  conformity  to  the  principles  which  I  have  sta- 
ted ;  and  that  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  defects  or  faults,  which 
the  eye  of  a  Paley  detected  in  the  English  book,  were  removed 
from  the  American,  when  we  came  to  adapt  it  to  the  altered 
political  condition  of  our  country  as  it  took  its  stand  among 
independent  nations.  With  these  remarks  I  assume  the  point, 
that  our  Liturgy  is  remarkably  full  and  rich  in  the  saving 
truths  of  the  Gospel ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  free,  not 
as  some  too  idolatrously  ween,  Irum  all  human  error,  but  as  we 
may  justly  claim,  from  all  dangerous  admixtures  of  such  error  j 
that  it  is  constructed  on  the  justest  principles  of  logic  and  of 
sound  taste  ;  is  copious  in  its  provisions  for  all  the  general,  and 
for  most  of  the  special  wants  of  a  worshiping  people ;  and 
abounds  in  such  self-abasing  confessions  and  supplications,  and 
in  such  fervent  and  sublime  strains  of  devotion,  that  the  most 
broken-hearted  penitent  may  well  pour  out  his  soul  in  the  for- 
mer, while  glorious  angels,  were  they  visibly  present,  might 
cordially  utter  their  loud  "  Amens  "  to  the  latter. 

I  proceed  now  to  the  second  view  which  I  have  proposed ; 
a  view  of  the  tendencies  of  such  a  form  of  worship,  acting  on 
the  true  devotional  spirit,  diiring  periods  of  excitement  and  of 
threatened  change  in  the  mind  of  the  Church. 

We  will,  then,  suppose  the  minister  of  a  particular  congre- 
gation, worshiping  by  such  a  form,  to  be  in  the  same  condition 


WORSHIP.  195 

of  mind  as  that  before  instanced.  He  has  fallen  into  the  cur- 
rent, which  is  setting  so  deeply  and  powerfully  through  the 
public  religious  mind ;  he  moves  with  that  current ;  he  reaches 
the  result  to  which  it  tends ;  he  becomes  an  errorist,  perhaps  of 
the  most  dangerous  kind.  But,  what  now  is  the  position  in  which 
he  finds  himself,  as  one,  who  may  wish  to  change  the  faith  of 
the  Church  into  a  conformity  with  his  newly  adopted  views  l 

If  he  be  a  dishonest  man,  or  a  man  of  unscrupulous  con- 
science, who  thinks  it  right  to  effect  what  he  deems  a  good 
end  by  means,  which  others  would  regard  as  of  questionable 
morality,  he  cannot  take  advantage  of  the  devoutly  re- 
sponding spirit  of  his  worshiping  congregation.  He  cannot 
make  his  people  drink  at  the  stream  of  his  errors  through 
the  confidings  of  their  ^meri'Saying  mind.  Though  he  him- 
self be  steeped  in  heresy,  yet  that  to  which  they  say  '  amen,' 
is  full  of  the  richness  and  life  of  God's  Truth.  If  he  attempt 
to  disseminate  his  errors,  he  can  do  it  no  where  but  in  the  pul- 
pit, or  from  the  press,  or  by  conversation  ;  and  the  moment 
he  makes  this  attempt  he  must  pour  his  doctrine  into  the  ear  of 
his  people's  critical  intellect.  In  this  enterprise,  he  has 
not  before  him  a  confiding,  appropriating  body  of  v/orshiping 
minds,  but  a  congregation,  who  feel  that  the  reason  and  un- 
derstanding, which  he  addresses,  are  their  own  ;  who  have  a 
right  to  judge  him  by  his  acknowledged  and  sworn  standards  5 
and  who,  in  their  jealous  love  for  those  standards,  will  not  be 
slow  either  to  see  or  lo  arraign  the  adventurous  delinquent. — 
Before  such  a  judge,  abiding  by  such  standards,  the  discrep- 
ancy between  the  Pulpit,  the  Press,  or  the  lip  of  Colloquy, 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  loud,  distinct,  and  incessant  utterances 
of  the  desk  on  the  other,  is  at  once  detected  ;  and,  if  that  dis- 
crepancy be  on  fundamental  points,  he  is  at  once  removed  from 
his  post  of  influence  in  the  Church.  Examples  of  the  opera- 
tion of  this  principle  have  not  been  wanting  even  within  the 
limits  of  our  brief  history  as  an  independent  Ecclesiastical 
Organization  :  *  and  if  our  Church  should  ever  fail  to  cut  off 

•  The  case  of  the  R,cv. formerly  of  the  Diocese  of  Connecticut,  who 

attempted  to  teach  the  doctrines  of  Universnlism  from  one  of  our  pulpiis,.  and 
who,  notwithstandjpg  the  caution,  with  which  he  prosecuted  his  attempt,  was 
detected  and  removed  from  the  ministry, — was  one  in  point. 


196  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

such  errorists,  it  will  be,  not  because  she  wants  means  to  de- 
tect them,  but  because  she  will  have  proved  unfaithful  to  her 
Master  and  to  her  work  ;  an  unfaithfulness  for  which  she  will 
deserve  the  chastening  which  detected  yet  allowed  corruptions 
will  not  fail  to  inflict. 

If  we  take,  what  it  is  a  happiness  to  know  is,  a  more  fre- 
quent case  ;  if  we  suppose  the  minister  in  question,  to  be, 
though  an  errorist,  yet  an  honest  man,  strong  indeed  in  his 
convictions,  but  with  a  good  conscience  in  his  bosom  ;  then,  as 
his  convictions  become  settled,  (if  they  settle  in  the  direction 
of  the  rationalistic  extreme,)  he  cannot  continue  the  use  of  our 
Liturgy.  It  imbodies  and  is  based  on  truths,  or,  as  he  will 
consider  them,  errors,  which  will  make  his  head  ache  every 
time  he  utters  them  on  his  knees,  against  his  new  convictions 
and  amid  his  people's  hearty  '  Amens.'  What  shall  he  do  1  A 
hypocrite  he  cannot  be,  for  he  is  an  honest  man  and  has  a  con- 
science, whose  fair  answer  is  of  more  value  to  him  than  thou- 
sands of  wealth,  or  pinnacles  of  honor ;  and  a  wound  upon 
which  he  more  dreads  than  he  does  obscurity,  and  poverty,  and 
rags.  There  is  but  one  thing  which  he  can  do.  He  must  re- 
tire from  his  ministry:  a  resistless  voice  within  commands  the 
movement :  he  obeys  :  and  thus, — so  far  as  his  influence  can 
now  directly  reach  her  faith, — the  Church  is  safe.  Examples 
of  the  operation  of  this  principle  are  familiar  to  all,  who  are 
familiar  with  our  ecclesiastical  history.* 

*  The  grent  infrequency,  rather  the  entire  absence,  of  cases,  in  which  an  Epis- 
copal Congregation  have  been  led  away  from  the  faith  of  their  Church,  speaks, 
on  this  point,  strong  language.  The  case  of  King's  Chapel,  Boston,  is  no  ex- 
ception to  the  remark.  It  has  been  said  that  this,  "  The  first  Episcopal  Church 
in  New  England,  became  the  first  Unitarian  Church  in  the  United  Slates."  [Vide, 
Hist.  King's  Chap,  by  Dr.  Greenwood.]  This,  however,  is  an  incorrect  state- 
ment. That  was  not  a  case,  in  which  an  Episcopal  Church  became  Unitarian  ; 
but,  a  case,  in  which  an  Edifice,  once  occupied  by  an  Episcoiial  Congregation, 
subsequently  came  into  the  pDSsession  and  occupation  of  Unitarians.  The 
building  was  ■virtually  vacated,  by  the  incidents  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
of  its  Episcopal  occupants  and  worship; — and,  thus  vacated,  passed  at  length 
into  llie  hands  of  a  virtually  new  Congregation,  composed  mostly  ot  Unitarians. 
No  sooner,  however,  was  this  transfer  of  the  building  efl'ected,  than  it  was  re- 
solved to  alter  the  Liturgy  by  striking  out  all  references  to  the  great  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity.  It  was  equally  impossible  for  the  new  Congregation,  as  honest 
men,  to  worship  with  the  old  Prayer  Book,  as  it  was  for  tliejj  officiating  Reader, 
as  an  honest  candidate  for  the  ministry,  to  obtain  Episcopal  Ordination.    Had 


WORSHIP.  197 

If,  however,  his  convictions  have  settled, — not  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Rationalist,  but — in  that  of  the  Ritualist,  extreme, 
he  is  met  with  an  opposite,  though  a  scarcely  less  operative, 
characteristic  in  our  Liturgy :  its  blank  vacancy  of  all  that  can 
minister  to  the  longings  of  that  peculiar  taste,  which  accom- 
panies the  adoption  of  Romish  dogmas  and  observances,  as  uni- 
formly as  a  shadow  follows  its  substance.  In  continuing  the 
use  of  our  liturgy,  he  finds  not  a  penance  for  the  post-baptis- 
mal transgressor,  nor  a  missal  for  the  worshiper  of  transubstanti- 
ated elements ;  not  a  trace  of  the  confessional,  nor  a  line  about 
human  merits  ;  not  a  prayer  for  the  dead,  nor  a  mass  for 
patients  under  Purgatorial  discipline  ;  not  a  single  prayer  to 
the  Virgin,  nor  an  invocation  to  a  solitary  saint  ;  not  a  note  of 
wonder  at  the  miracles  of  the  Church,  nor  even  a  viaticum  for 
the  distressed  Christian  "  i?i  extremis  ;"  not  a  prean  to  celibacy, 
nor  a  laud  to  virginity ;  not  a  shrine  for  a  consecrated  relic, 
nor  a  receptacle  for  an  anointed  picture  ;  in  short,  not  a  single 
ceremony  designed  for  pomp,  nor  a  solitary  contrivance  for  in- 
spiring awe ;  but  all  plain  and  decent  in  posture,  all  simple 
and  beautiful  in  order,  all  sound  and  scriptural  in  utterance, 
all  rational  as  well  as  fervent  in  devotion  :  nor  can  he  intrO' 
duce  into  the  forms,  which  he  uses,  any  thing  to  awaken  in 
others  the  longings,  which  are  consuming  himself:  not  a  word 
of  truth  can  he  leave  out,  nor  a  syllable  of  error,  bring  in, 
while  conducting  the  worship  of  the  Church:  notliing  can  he 
do  towards  the  end,  at  which  he  aims,  but  introduce  a  few  poor 
changes  of  posture  and  of  costume,  which,  by  their  very 
meagerness,  fail  to  satisfy  himself,  while,  b}'  their  dim  pointing 
towards  somewhat  more  startlingly  significant,  they  displease 
most  others,  and  betray  the  secret  errors,  which  would  btrguile 
them  from  their  faith.  His  position,  in  truth,  becomes  one  of 
serious  embarrassment.  The  cravings  of  his  secret  appetite 
are  left,  unfed,  in  painful  hunger  ;  and  the  steps  of  his  half- 


the  original  Congregation  of  King's  Chapel  never  been  disijcrsed,  and  the  use  of 
the  Liturgy  among  them  by  an  Episcopal  clergyman  never  been  interrupted, 
that  venerable  Edilice,  and  that  ancient  Congregation,  had  doubtless  remained 
to  this  day :  the  latter  as  sound  in  the  faith,  as  the  former  had  proved  loyal  to 
the  worship,  of  our  truly  Orthodox  Church. 


198  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

timid  movements  are  watched  by  a  thousand  reproving  looks  ; 
till,  even  if  he  succeed  in  screening  his  errors  from  ecclesias- 
tical censure,  his  conscience  as  an  honest  man,  and  his  feelings 
as  a  self-respecting  man,  compel  him  to  abandon  a  ministry,  to 
which  he  can  no  longer  be  comfortably  loyal ;  and  thus,  to  de- 
liver the  Church,  which  he  serves,  from  the  teaching  and  from 
the  Influence  of  his  inconsistent  example. 

It  was  the  pressure  of  that  negative  character  of  our  liturgy, 
now  noticed,  which  stimulated  the  efforts  of  some  in  the  English 
Church  to  restore  to  credit,  and  thereby  bring  back  into  use, 
the  whole  discarded,  and  for  ages  unused,  Romish  Breviary. 
The  Ritual  Spirit  felt,  amid  what  seemed  to  it  the  ceremonial 
poverty  of  the  Anglican  forms,  a  painful  sense  of  want,  not 
easily  to  be  endured.  It,  therefore,  sought  elsewhere  its  ne- 
cessary food  :  first,  by  endeavoring  to  bring  that  food  to  itself 
in  the  English  Church  :  and  finally,  when  that  proved  impos- 
sible, by  going  after  it  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Truly,  then, 
this  Ritual  Spirit,  so  far  as  it  finds  entrance,  must  be  in  a  most 
famishing  condition  amid  the  more  severely  simple  forms,  in 
which  the  worship  of  our  American  Episcopal  Church  is  set 
forth.  These  forms  are,  indeed,  rich  to  those,  who  love  the 
manna,  and  beautiful  to  those,  who  admire  the  plainness,  of 
heavenly  truth  j  but  they  must  be  poor  to  those,  who  long  for 
the  splendid  ornament,  and  common  to  those,  who  sigh  for  the 
imposing  pomps,  of  a  long  discarded  Superstition.  It  can  be 
no  wonder  if  such  should  be  incessantly  studying  change.  Our 
liturgy  cannot  satisfy  their  cravings ;  nor  can  they  ever  use  it 
in  diffusing  their  peculiar  tastes  through  the  Church. 

The  view,  which  I  have  been  taking,  will  help  to  illustrate 
the  influence  of  such  a  liturgy  as  ours  in  the  public  worship  of 
the  Church,  when  operating,  not  only  on  a  single  congregation 
through  the  ministry  of  a  single  man,  but  also  on  tlie  whole 
Ecclesiastical  Body  and  through  a  long  succession  of  genera- 
tions. In  this  operation,  it  is  emiiLcntly  conservative  of  the  true 
faith  of  the  Gospel.  Full  as  it  is  of  the  very  marrow  of  divine 
truth  ;  correct  and  chaste  as  it  is  in  its  style  j  fervent  and  often 
sublime  as  it  is  in  its  spirit ;  it  is  also  a  composition,  with 
which  we  almost  necessarily  become  familiar.     It  lives  in  our 


WORSHIP.  199 

earliest  and  latest,  in  our  fondest  and  holiest,  associations.  It 
furnishes  much  of  our  worshiping  language,  and  many  of  our 
worshiping  thoughts  :  and  though  not  designed,  in  its  use,  to 
fill  our  prayers  with  sermons,  yet,  in  its  remembered  strains, 
it  does  practically  fill  our  hearts  with  doctrines.;  and  that,  too, 
with  doctrines  in  their  most  valuable  forms ;  not  laid  up,  as 
sharp  weapons,  in  the  armory  of  our  Critical  Intellect,  but 
preserved,  as  living  and  holy  truths,  in  the  spirit  of  pure,  per- 
ennial devotion.  The  truths  of  our  religion,  thus  associated, 
thus  imbibed,  and  thus  preserved,  operate,  among  us,  on  the 
mind  and  heart  of  imitative  Childhood,  of  ardent  Youth,  of 
digestive  Manhood,  and  of  meditative  Age  ;  and  thus  become, 
in  a  sense,  inwrought  into  the  substance  of  the  Church,  and 
live  and  act  as  elements  in  her  enduring  constitution.  The 
process  may  give  to  our  ecclesiastical  temperament  less  of  the 
excitable,  the  impulsive,  and  the  strenuously,  though  fitfully 
active  :  yet  it  probably  imparts  to  that  temperament  more  of 
the  contemplative,  the  healthful,  and  the  long  lived. 

Thus  far,  we  have  looked  at  the  two  forms  of  Worship,  in 
their  comparative  action  on  the  truly  devotional  mind,  during 
periods  of  movement  and  of  threatened  change  in  the  Church. 
If  we  were  to  examine  their  comparative  action  on  the  ordi- 
nary mass  of  mind, — indevout,  unworshiping,  as  it  always  and 
every  where  is  by  nature  ;  we  should  possibly  find  the  compar- 
ison somewhat  modified.  In  this,  its  natural  state,  if  the  mind, 
listening  to  a  set  form,  learn  to  repeat  by  rote  what  it  after- 
wards cares  not  to  ponder  ;  in  listening  to  an  extemporaneous 
form,  it  may  learn  to  listen  with  incredulity  to  what  it  cannot 
appreciate,  or  with  mere  curiosity  to  what  pleases  its  natural 
tastes.  Under  such  a  set  form  as  ours,  if  the  indevout  mind 
learn  any  thing,  it  can  learn  little  or  nothing  but  God's  truth  : 
while,  under  an  extemporaneous  form,  it  will  prove  quite  as 
susceptible  as  the  devout  spirit  itself  both  to  the  absence  of 
truth,  and  to  the  presence  of  error.  And  thus,  when  the  ripen- 
ing hour  for  change  has  come,  the  mind,  in  this  state,  may  be 
found  even  more  ready  than  that,  which  has  thoroughly  and 
devoutly  digested  its  errors,  for  the  deciding  movement,  which 
is  to  follow.     For  error,    in  all  its  forms,  the  affinity  of  the 


200  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

natural  mind  is  uniformly  stronger  than  that  of  the  spiritiial ; 
inasmuch  as  the  latter  has  something,  while  the  former  has 
nothing,  to  correct  its  native  aversion  to  the  self-mortifying 
strictness  of  Christianity. 

in.  There  are  other  points,  upon  which  the  two  forms  of 
worship  might  be  compared,  but  which  the  main  design  of  this 
discourse  does  not  require  me  fully  to  discuss.  It  may  not, 
however,  be  improper,  before  closing,  to  give  them  a  very  brief 
notice. 

The  principal  objections,  then,  to  public  worship  by  a  pre- 
viously settled  and  enjoined  form,  are  these  two  :  1.  The  use 
of  such  a  form,  it  is  urged,  tends  to  formalism,  through  a  con- 
tinual repetition  of  the  same  words  j  the  tongue,  in  its  famili- 
arity w^ith  the  sounds,  repeating  language,  the  meaning  of 
which  an  untasked  attention  fails  of  carrying  to  the  heart. 
2.  Such  a  form  is  incapable  of  adaptation  to  many  of  the 
most  interesting  exigences  of  times,  places,  and  circumstances  : 
it  cannot  make  the  most  effective  use  of  providential  occur- 
rences, and  of  local  states  of  religious  feeling.  The  use  of  an 
extemporaneous  form,  it  is  claimed,  is  far  less  exposed  to  the 
dangers  of  formalism ;  and  far  more  capable  of  occasional  and 
local  effectiveness,  in  awakening  the  religious  sensibilities,  and 
in  cultivating  the  religious  affections,  amid  the  ceaseless,  and 
often  impressive  incidents  of  life. 

But,  though  a  candid  mind  Avill  not  hesitate  to  admit  the 
tendency  of  forms  to  formalism  ;  yet,  a  discriminating  mind 
may,  perhaps,  be  able  to  see,  that  the  tendency  is  stronger  in 
the  sound  of  the  words,  than  it  is  found  to  be  in  the  experience 
of  Christians.  There  is  such  a  tendency  ;  but  it  is  not  irresisti- 
ble :  it  may  be  counteracted.  It  needs  but  the  life  and  spirit 
of  religion,  as  ordinarily  attendant  on  a  faithful  and  earnest 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  to  keep  this  tendency  within  as  nar- 
row limits,  under  the  use  of  set  forms  of  worship  as  under 
that  of  the  extemporaneous  mode.  The  tendency  to  formal- 
ism in  religion  is  by  no  means  limited  to  the  use  of  prescribed 
forms  of  worship.  It  is  a  tendency,  into  Avhich  our  nature  too 
easily  runs,  even  when  partially  sanctified,  and  when  worship- 
ing in  the  most  informal  way.     Safety  from  it,  under  all  cir- 


■WORSHIP.  201 

cumstances,  is  the  gracious  reward  of  nothing  but  strict  and 
incessant  watchfulness  over  the  state  of  the  heart  and  the  spirit 
of  its  devotions :  and,  on  these  conditions,  that  safety  is  as 
well  assured  to  those,  who  worship  by  a  prescribed,  as  to  those, 
who  use  an  extemporaneous  mode. 

Again  :  it  need  not  be  denied  that  a  prescribed  form  of  Wor- 
ship is  incapable  of  being  minutely  and  perfectly  adapted  to 
the  ever  changing  exigencies  of  life.  But,  perhaps,  this  dis- 
advantage is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  accompanying 
safeguards  against  certain  evils,  to  which,  through  its  capabili- 
ties in  this  and  other  respects,  extemporaneous  worship  is  ex- 
posed. In  the  use  of  prescribed  forms  of  worship,  the  officia- 
ting minister  cannot  make  his  own  private  and  often  peculiar 
feelings  and  experiences  jar  upon  the  common  and  frequently 
dissimilar  feelings  and  states  of  mind  in  his  auditory  :  nor  can 
one  minister  ever  be  praying  for  what  another  is,  at  the  same 
time,  deprecating.  In  the  use  of  such  forms,  he  cannot  fall 
into  the  painfully  embarrassing  hesitations,  mistakes  and  im- 
proprieties of  expression,  which  so  often  mark  the  public  de- 
votional exercises  of  ungifted  minds:  nor  can  he  ever  follow 
the  eccentricities  of  his  own  genius,  and  thus  be  led,  as  many 
often  are,  into  irreverent  familiarities,  or  unsafe  extravagances; 
startling  forms  of  expression,  or  mere  flights  of  oratory ;  in- 
forming narratives  before  God,  or  virtual  sermonizing  before 
men. 

When,  these  and  similar  things  are  considered,  it  will  be 
evident,  that  prescribed  forms  of  Worship  have  some  peculiar 
advantages,  and  are  free  from  many  special  disadvantages  :  and 
that,  if  extemporaneous  Worship  be,  at  times,  and  for  an  occa- 
sion, remarlf  ably  and  peculiarly  impressive  and  effective,  it  is, 
at  other  times,  embarrassingly  lame,  or  disturbingly  eccentric  ; 
often  unprofitable  in  its  matter,  and  frequently  doctrinal,  rather 
than  devotional,  in  its  dress :  while  Worship  by  a  prescribed 
form,  such  as  ours,  is  always  decent  and  dignified,  devout  and 
solemn,  elevated  and  edifying  :  in  short,  uniformly  fit  to  be 
offered,  by  sinful  and  penitent,  believing  and  adoring  mortals, 
at  the  footstool  of  that  Throne,  whereon  is  seated  the  high  and 
the  holy,  the  all-knowing  and  the  all-gracious  Immortal. 


202  THE    CHURCH    UNU'ERSAL. 

It  would  be  easy  to  enlarge  on  these  and  similar  points  of 
comparison.  But  my  purpose  leads  me  not  farther  in  this  di- 
rection. My  main  object  in  this  discourse  has  been,  to  present 
the  subject  in  what  seems  to  me  one  of  its  strong  lights  ;  and, 
having  done  so,  to  leave  it,  without  much  collateral  remark, 
for  contemplation  in  the  hours  of  still  and  quiet  thought.  It 
is  enough  to  say,  touching  such  points  as  those,  which  I  have 
now  briefly  noticed,  they  shew  that  each  of  the  two  forms  of 
worship  has  its  peculiar  advantages,  and  its  peculiar  disadvan- 
tages ;  that,  as  these  advantages  and  disadvantages  are  brought 
before  different  minds  by  the  forces  of  education  amid  the  cir- 
cumstances of  life,  and  the  varieties  of  human  temperament, 
it  is  not  strange  that  some  should  strongly  lean  to  the  extem- 
poraneous, while  others  as  strongly  incline  to  the  pre-composed, 
form.  Allowing,  however,  that  the  general  arguments  on  either 
side  were  more  evenly  balanced  than,  to  my  mind,  they  appear 
to  be  ;  still,  the  special  view,  which,  in  this  discourse,  I  have 
endeavored  to  present,  comes,  in  my  judgment,  with  an  over- 
whelming weight  upon  the  question,  and  moves  the  balance 
decidedly  in  favor  of  public  Worship  by  such  a  form,  as  that 
which  I  have  described. 

There  are  some,  indeed,  who  would  turn  the  argument  from 
this  view  in  favor  of  an  opposite  conclusion.  The  fact,  that 
such  a  form  of  worship  tends  to  stereotype  the  faith  and  doc- 
trines of  the  Church,  in  the  minds  of  the  people  as  well  as  on 
their  written  records,  furnishes,  with  them,  the  very  reason 
why  such  forms  should  be  rejected  from  the  worship  of  the 
Church.  They  hold  not  to  this  fixedness  of  faith  and  opinions 
in  religion.  They  are  believers  in  progress,  in  development, 
in  this  as  in  other  subjects.  They  consider  Eeligion,  like  Phi- 
losophy, an  improvable  science  ;  not  only  as  being  capable  of 
a  more  and  more  perfect  comprehension,  and  as  tending  to  im- 
prove human  character  in  the  individual  and  in  the  mass;  but 
also  as  admitting  of  changes  and  new  discoveries  in  its  own 
elementary  principles.  They  would  therefore  take  away  every 
thing, — forms,  creeds,  reverence, — every  thing,  that  can  stand 
as  a  barrier  against  full  and  perfect  liberty  of  change,  and  of 
progress.     Unchangeableness  in  the  Church's  faith  and  forms 


WORSHIP.  203 

is,  to  them,  an  offense.  It  gives  no  chance  to  their  improve- 
ments upon  what  others  deem  the  Divine  plan  and  wisdom. 
The  argument,  therefore,  which  I  have  urged,  instead  of  con- 
vincing them,  turns  them  exactly  the  other  way,  and  settles 
them,  more  firmly  than  ever,  in  their  opposition  to  all  prescript 
Worship,  though  it  were  by  the  best  of  forms. 

AVith  such  as  share  this  feeling,  I  can  have  little  hope  of 
prevailing.  But,  with  those  who  adopt  a  different  view,  I  may 
hope  my  argument  will  have  weight.  Those,  who  believe 
that  Revealed  Truth,  as  it  came  from  God,  has  in  it  fixed  ele- 
ments ; — that  Christianity  has  a  settled  and  unchangeable  base  ; 
— that  God  has  spoken  all  His  mind  concerning  the  Way  of 
our  Salvation,  and  distinctly  intimated  His  design  to  "  add  no 
more  j  " — and  that  the  faith  of  the  Church  should  ever  answer  to 
its  divine  Archetypes,  "  as,  in  water,  face  answereth  to  face  , " 
— those,  who  believe  that  the  Church's  progress  and  develop- 
ment should  be  from  grace  to  grace,  and  from  faith  to  faith, — 
not  in  the  sense  of  changing  one  grace  for  another,  or  an  old 
system  of  faith  for  a  new,  but — in  the  sense  of  carrying  every 
grace  to  its  highest  attainable  perfection,  and  of  developing, 
from  the  one  faith  of  the  ancient  Bible,  its  richest  fruits  in  the 
holy  civilization  of  the  Individual  and  of  Society  ; — those, 
who  hold  that  we  should  seek, — not  for  repeated  changes  of 
faith  and  doctrine,  but — for  a  better  practical,  as  well  as  intel- 
lectual apprehension  of  the  Immutable  Faith  and  Doctrine  of 
God's  holy  Word  ;  those,  who  regard  the  Church — not  as  a 
subject,  upon  which  this  World's  spirit  of  curiosity  and  love  of 
novelty  may  make  their  experiments,  but — as  God's  Instrument 
for  operating  on  the  world  in  the  blessed  work  of  reclaiming 
it,  for  a  just  allegiance,  to  its  Eternal  King :  those,  who  thus 
believe  and  hold,  will,  I  apprehend,  feel  a  peculiar  force  in 
the  view  which  I  have  taken,  and  realize  its  great  weight  in 
deciding  the  question  upon  the  comparative  value  of  the  two 
great  forms  of  public  Worship  in  the  Church.  The  scriptural 
and  edifying  character  of  a  Liturgy  being  secured — nothing 
further  is  essentially  needed, — save  a  faithful  preaching  of 
"  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,"  and  the  full  efi'usion,  prom- 
ised to  such  preaching,  of  the  mighty  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 


204  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

to  bring  into  the  Church,  and  to  perpetuate  her  highest  life 
and  her  holiest  efficiency :  a  life,  serene  as  it  would  be  endur- 
ing;— an  efficiency,  blessed  as  it  would  be  powerful. 

And  now,  in  dismissing  the  topics,  with  which  I  have  thought 
it  not  improper  to  follow  the  argument  on  the  comprehension 
of  the  Church  Universal,  let  me  ask  the  reader  to  join  me  in 
breathing  forth,  humbly  and  fervently,  at  the  feet  of  Him,  who 
is,  "  to  the  Church,  Head  over  all,"  these  brief  aspirations : 
that  all  Christians,  whether  they  write,  or  read,  or  whatsoever 
they  do,  may  be  lead  to  seek  mainly  for  one  thing ;  not  so 
much  for  an  acute  skill  in  controversy  ;  not  so  much  for 
triumph  in  debate  ;  not  so  much  for  victory  over  all,  who  can- 
not see  things  indifflsrent  with  exactly  our  eyes ; — as  for  a  free 
and  full  in-breathing  of  the  Life  of  Christ,  through  the  power  of 
the  Spirit,  and  by  the  quickening  of  the  Father's  Word  ; — and 
that,  thus,  the  whole  "  Church  of  the  Living  God"  on  Earth 
may  the  sooner  be  penetrated  with  one  divine  nature,  though 
it  should  never  be  known,  in  all  its  parts,  by  one  human  name  : 
obeying  One  Government,  as  alone  infallible,  the  Govern- 
ment of  her  Divine  Head  ;  and  bowing  in  one  worship,  as  alone 
acceptable  to  Heaven,  The  Worship  of  the  Father  "  in 
Spirit  and  in  Truth." 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 


"  The  General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  Firsl-born,  which  are  \vrittcn  in 
Heaven."— Heb.xII;  23. 


In  this  discourse,  I  propose  no  addition  to  the  arguments^ 
with  which  the  foregoing  work  has  been  concerned.  My  ob- 
ject is,  so  far  as  may  be,  to  give  a  holier  power  to  what  has 
been  said  by  carrying  the  whole  subject,  which  has  been  dis- 
cussed, up  to  that  future  and  finished  result,  wherein  all  that 
is  imperfect  in  the  Church  on  Earth  will  be  seen  swallowed 
up  forever  in  the  perfections  of  the  Church  in  Heaven.  If, 
in  what  has  thus  far  been  written,  there  have  been  too  much 
of  a  taint  from  earthly  influences,  it  will  be  pleasant  to  the 
writer, — he  hopes  it  may  be  no  less  so  to  the  reader, — to 
close  the  book  with  something  that  shall  serve  to  remind  both 
of  the  purities  of  a  better  world. 

We  are  taught  by  the  Apostle  that  there  were,  in  the  an- 
cient Church,  "patterns  of  things  in  the  Heavens."  Some  of 
those  patterns  are  enumerated  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
Thus,  the  sacrifices  and  sprinkling  of  blood,  observed  by  the 
Church  under  the  old  Dispensation,  were  "patterns"  of  the 
one  great  Offering,  and  of  the  true  Blood  of  sprinkling,  which 
Christ,  our  great  High  Priest,  is  continually  presenting  in 
Heaven.*  Thus,  too,  the  Most  Holy  Place  in  the  temple  of 
the  ancient  Church  was  a  "  pattern"  of  the  "  true"  Holy  of 

•  Heb.  ix  ;  24. 


206  THE    CHURCH    UNIVERSAL. 

Holies  in  Heaven,  into  which  Christ  has  entered  with  that 
one  perfect  offering  of  Himself.*  In  Heaven,  there  is  con- 
tinual worship,  as  we  learn  from  the  visions  of  him,  who  spake 
in  the  Apocalypse.  The  elders,  who  "  worship  Him  that 
liveth  forever  and  ever," — "  rest  not,  day  and  night,  saying 
Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was,  and  is,  and  is 
to  come."t  Worship  on  Earth,  is  an  act  of  the  Church. 
This  worship  on  high,  therefore,  implies  the  existence  of  a 
Church  in  Heaven.  Moreover  ;  he,  who  had  the  visions  of  the 
Apocalypse,  saw  in  Heaven,  the  "  Bride  the  Lamb's  wifej''^ 
one  of  the  mystic  names,  by  which  the  Church  of  Christ  is 
designated. 

There  is,  then,  a  Church  in  Heaven.  It  is  "  the  General 
Assembly  and  Church  of  the  First-born,  whose  names  are 
w^ritten"  there.  To  this  "  General  Assembly  and  Church  of 
the  First-born"  Christians  do,  indeed,  "  cora^''  even  while  they 
continue  on  earth  ;  for  it  is  while  they  are  thus  on  earth,  that 
their  "names  are  written  in  Heaven."  Still  the  language  of 
the  Apostle  is  most  happily  descriptive  of  the  state  of  the 
Church  on  high  ;  and  it  is  only  in  that  state  that  our  coming 
to  it  will  be  finally  and  fully  realized.  Christ  "  loved  the 
Church,  and  gave  Himself  for  it,  that  he  might" — "  present  it 
to  Himself,  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing  j  but  that  it  should  be  holy,  and  without  blem- 
ish." This  presentation  will  be  literally  and  fully  realized 
only  in  Heaven.  The  Church  is,  indeed,  presented  to  Christ 
on  earth ;  and  it  is,  in  one  sense,  even  here,  "  a  glorious 
Church :"  but  it  will  never  be  perfectly  "  holy  and  without 
blemish"  till  the  day,  when  the  grand  marriage  of  "  the  Bride, 
the  Lamb's  Wife,"  shall  be  celebrated  in  solemn  state  before 
the  throne  of  God. 

There  is  a  Church  in  Heaven.  Heaven  itself,  considered 
as  a  state  of  being  and  relations,  and  as  made  up  of  those,  who 
fill  that  state,  is  a  Church.  In  that  Church  Jesus  Himself  is 
"  The  great  Bishop  and  Shepherd  of  souls."  Its  members  are 
"  The  First-born," — the  choice  ones  of  God,  the  first  or  best 

•  Heb.  ix  ;  8  and  12.  f  Rev.  iv  ;  S  and  10.  %  Kev.  xxi ;  9. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  HEAVEN.  207 

fruits  of  His  creatures ;  and  their  "  names  are  written  in 
Heaven,"  in  the  Registry  of  Life.  Its  Baptism  is  the  full 
aiFusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  fire,"— the  spirit  of  glow- 
ing, heavenly  love,  poured  abundantly  upon  all  hearts.  And 
its  HIGH  Sachament  is  a  feast  on  "  angels'  food,"  the  manna  of 
immortality  ; — a  feast, — not  on  the  pledges, — but  on  the  re- 
ality, of  that  as  yet  great  mystery, — Life  everlasting  in 
Christ  our  Head.  If,  then,  there  be  a  Church  in  Heaven,  we 
cannot  have  better  employment  on  earth  than  in  making  our- 
selves familiar  with  its  characteristics,  and  partakers  of  its 
spirit.  To  this  end  may  a  blessing  be  shed  down  upon  us  from 
that  upper — inner  Sanctuary. 

What,  then,  are  the  characteristics  of  the  Church  in 
Heaven  1 

1.  It  is  characterized  by  Union. 

I  say  Union,  rather  that  Unity  ;  because,  of  the  two,  the 
former  is  the  higher  and  more  perfect  state.  As  we  have  seen, 
there  may  be  Unity,  where  there  is  no  Union.  But,  in  the 
Church,  taken  as  one  whole,  there  can  be  no  Union,  which 
does  not  include  Unity.     Union  is  Unity  sanctified. 

On  earth,  the  uniting  principle  operates  feebly,  and  incon- 
stantly. In  Heaven  it  acts  powerfully  and  constantly  ;  so  that 
the  very  basis  of  the  Church  in  glory  is — Union: — a  perfectly 
united  condition  of  the  innumerable  parts,  or  members  of 
the  glorified  Body.  There  are  no  Schisms  in  Heaven.  The 
members  of  Christ  there  do  not  look  on  one  another  with  the 
sickly  eye  of  prejudice,  till  brother  learns  to  hate  his  brother. 
They  do  not  call  one  another  by  odious  names  there,  till  at 
length  the  very  sound  of  some  two-edged  epithet,  wounding 
the  heart  both  of  him,  who  utters,  and  of  him,  who  receives 
it,  stirs  to  action  most  unholy  tempers.  There  are  no  rival 
Sects  in  Heaven,  each  striving  to  build  its  own,  and  to  demo- 
lish the  other's  house  :  no  dividing  walls  to  prevent  Christians 
from  seeing  and  speaking  with  Christians  ;  no  separate  streams 
of  charity,  kept  by  artificial  dikes  from  flowing  into  one  com- 
mon channel.  But  love,  mighty  love,  melts  down  all  barriers, 
opens  all  hearts,  and  unites  all  minds.  Love,  there,  is  the 
true   "  bond  of  perfectness  ;"  a  bond  never  broken,  leaving 


208  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

not  a  soul  out  of  its  sacred  zone,  but  holding  all  in  a  blest 
eternal  uniox.  There,  is  presented  the  literal  fulness  of  that, 
for  which  the  Savior  prayed  ; — "  That  they  all  may  be  One  ; 
— as  thou,  Father  art  in  me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  One  in  us." — "  And  the  glory,  which  thou  gavest  me,  I 
have  given  tJiem  :  that  they  may  be  Oxe  even  as  we  are  One. 
I  in  them  and  Thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect 
IN  One." 

2.  The  Church  in  Heaven  is  also  characterized  by  Purity. 

I  use  this  term,  now,  not  as  synonym.ous  with  holiness  in  the 
children  of  God,  but  as  opposed  to  mixture  among  them 
of  those,  who  belong  not  to  them.  Heaven  is  a  pure  Church 
because  it  contains  no  false  members ;  no  hypocrites,  or  in- 
tentional deceivers  of  others,  and  no  formalists  or  careless  de- 
ceivers of  themselves.  All,  who  are  admitted  to  membership 
there,  are  admitted  under  the  inspection  of  the  All-seeing 
Eye  ;  an  eye  that  looks  through  all  outward  forms,  into  all 
secret  motives.  Membership  there  is  a  vital  reality.  There 
are  no  dead  branches  there,  whose  only  distinction  is  that 
they  lie  within  the  enclosure  of  the  Church  Vineyard.  All 
are  there  living  branches,  grafted  into  Christ,  "the  True 
Vine,"  and  growing  out  of  Him  as  the  real  "  Tree  of  Life."  In 
Heaven,  there  are  no  "  tares"  among  the  "  wheat  ;"  for  no 
enemy  finds  the  great  Husbandman  asleep  that  he  may  sow 
them.  The  "  net,"  which  is  "  let  down"  from-  heaven  into 
the  great  sea  of  Time,  gathers  not  good  and  bad,  but  good 
alone  upon  the  eternal  shores.  In  Heaven,  it  is  never  said  of 
professing  Christians ;  "  They  went  out  from  us  because  they 
were  not  o/us :"  but  all  there  are  regenerate  in  heart,  as  well 
as  in  outward  relation  ; — all  are  baptized  with  the  Spirit  as 
well  as  with  the  water  ;  and  all  not  only  sit  down  at  His  table, 
but  also  feast  on  life  with  the  living  Savior. 

3.  Sanctity  is  another  characteristic  of  the  Church  in 
Heaven. 

The  members  of  that  Church  are  not  only  set  apart  from 
common  and  profane  uses,  but  separated  also  from  every  form 
and  degree  of  sin ;  not  only  consecrated  as  vessels  of  honor 
unto  God,  but  also  "  meet  for  the  Master's  use."     They  have  no- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  HEAVEN.   "  209 

thing  wrong  in  their  natures.  They  do  not,  it  is  true,  feel  like 
the  Angels,  who  can  look  up  to  God,  in  the  sweet  conscious- 
ness that  they  have  never  offended  Him:  but  they  do  feel  like 
Redeemed  ones,  who  can  look  up  to  their  Father,  with  the 
joyful  certainty  that  He  has  delivered  them  from  all  their 
offences  and  made  them,  once  more  and  forever,  perfect  in  His 
sight.  They  hear  when  it  is  said;  "These  are  they  which 
came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  These 
were  "  redeemed  from  among  men,  being  the  first-fruits  unto 
God  and  to  the  Lamb.  In  their  mouth  was  found  no  guile  : 
for  they  are  without  fault  before  the  throne  of  God."  To 
use  the  Apostle's  phrase ;  "  In  the  body  of  His  flesh,  through 
death,"  Christ  hath  finally  "  presented  "  them  to  the  Father 
"  holy  and  unblamable,  and  unreprovable  in  His  sight  " 

4.   Another  characteristic  of  the  Church  in  Heaven  is — 
Light. 

I  speak  not  of  the  light,  which  visits  these  poor,  feeble  eyes 
of  flesh;  but  of  the  true  light  the  shining  of  truth,  the  light  of 
the  soul.  In  Heaven  there  is  no  Error,  nor  any  to  teach  error, 
concerning  either  God  or  His  ways,  either  man  or  his  destiny. 
There  is  no  ignorance  there,  as  growing  out  of  the  disuse  of  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  ;  nor  any  mistake,  as  originating  in  that 
feebleness,  which  cannot  always  use  those  faculties  aright. 
All  these  forms  of  darkness  are  dispersed,  "  and  the  true 
light  shineth."  Heaven  is  full  of  truth,  of  knowledge,  and 
of  CERTAINTY.  There  are  no  Heresies  in  that  Church.  Nor 
is  there  any  "  seeing  through  a  glass  darkly  ;"  all  is  "  face  to 
face:"  no  "knowing  but  in  part;"  all  "know  even  as  they 
also  are  known."  Truth,  in  Heaven,  is  like  a  great  sea  ; 
fathomless  indeed  and  shoreless,  but  transparent  ihvo\jigh.o\xi ', — 
and  the  Christian  there  is  like  one,  who,  from  the  shore  of  some 
beautiful  isle,  looks  down  into  the  clear  depths,  as  they  re- 
veal to  him  all  their  wonders,  and  who  rejoices  that  there  arc  no 
limits  to  his  discoveries  but  those,  which  lie  in  the  very  bound' 
lessness  of  the  transparency.  This  seems  to  be  the  mystery, 
which  John  saw  in  the  Revelations,  when  the  Heavenly  City  ap- 
peared to  him  as  "  pure  gold,  like  unto  clear  glass  ;"  it  was  the 
14- 


210  THE    CHURCH   UNIVERSAL. 

gold  of  simple  Truth,  translucid  to  the  eye  of  the  spiritual 
man.  A  similar  mystery  came  before  his  eye,  when  he  saw 
beneath  the  light  of  the  seven  mystic  lamps  burning  "  before 
the  throne, — a  sea  of  glass,  like  unto  crystal;  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne  and  round  about  the  throne, — four  living  crea- 
tures full  of  eyes  ;"*  it  was  the  transparent  sea  of  Truth, 
spread  out  beneath  the  light  of  God's  all-illuminating  Spirit, 
into  whose  clear  depths  the  eyes  of  the  holy  ones  are  ever  look- 
ing to  wonder  and  adore. 

5.  Separateness  is  likewise  characteristic  of  the  Church  in 
Heaven. 

Here,  even  true  Christians  are  more  or  less  conformed  to 
the  world  in  their  tastes,  habits,  and  intercourse.  There,  even 
the  spirit  of  such  conformity  disappears.  In  Heaven,  the 
Church  is  separate  from  the  world, — not  because  walls  of 
adamant  and  gates  of  brass,  have  been  built  between  them  ; 
nor  because  measureless  space  has  been  interposed  to  prevent 
their  association ; — but  because  the  desire  to  associate  is  un- 
felt.  Moral  differences  there  are  seen  in  the  light,  which  re- 
veals all  things  ;  and  being  seen,  are  felt ,  and  the  seen  and 
felt  difference  between  the  holy  and  the  unholy,  this  is  the 
wall,  which  separates  their  destinies.  This  constitutes  the  im- 
measurable distance,  which  is  interposed  between  their  eternal 
abodes.  The  voice  of  God,  which  separates  the  wicked  from 
the  righteous,  is  not  a  sound  made  in  the  ear  of  sense,  but  a 
conviction  uttered  into  the  heart  of  conscience.  His  segrega- 
ting power  is  the  light  of  His  truth,  shining  up  and  showing 
all  things  just  as  they  are ;  and,  with  its  revealings,  sending 
home  into  the  souls  of  the  holy  and  the  unholy  a  conscious- 
ness of  eternal  dissimilitude.  No  where,  but  in  the  world  of 
spirits,  is  that  great  truth,  which  Jesus  taught,  felt  in  its  full 
power  5 — "  Every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither 
Cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved.  But, 
he  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may  be 
made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God."t 

6.  Social  Fellowship  is  still  further  characteristic  of  the 
Church  in  Heaven. 

•  Rev.  XV ;  2.— iv ;  C.  t  John  iii ;  20,  21. 


TJIE   CHURCH  IN  HEAVEN  211 

The  members  of  that  Church  have  "fellowship  with  the 
Father  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,"  as  well  as  with  one 
another.  "  The  Church  of  the  First-born,  whose  names  are 
written  in  Heaven,"  is  also  called,  *'  The  General  Assembly." 
It  is  a  COMPANY,  and  exhibits  the  perfection  of  social  life. 
It  admits  of  no  dissocial  grades.  Diversities  of  rank,  office, 
and  station  may  exist  there  ;  but  if  they  do,  they  excite  no 
separating  feeling  ;  they  oppose  no  bars  to  freedom  and  cordi- 
ality of  intercourse.  There  are  no  artificial  restraints,  or  for- 
malities, or  coldnesses,  in  the  society  of  the  "  Saints  in  light." 
The  loftiest  spirit  there  feels  no  embarrassment  in  holding 
open  fellowship  with  the  lowliest  servant  of  the  Savior ;  but 
delights  to  sit  in  sacred  converse  and  communion  with  him  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus.  Among  the  members  of  the  Church  in 
Heaven,  there  are  no  rivalries,  no  jealousies,  no  clashing  inter- 
ests, no  great  families  to  be  built  up  and  enclosed  and  kept 
distinct  from  the  poor,  the  obscure,  the  unknown.  Nothing 
among  them  represses  the  indulgence  of  mutual  sympathies. 
They  are,  as  Jesus  requires,  "like  little  children;"  and,  like 
little  children,  they  act  just  as  they  feel,  and  feel  just  as  they 
act.  Earthly  titles,  earthly  wealth,  and  earthly  prejudices, 
are  left  down  in  the  grave,  side  by  side  with  the  obscurity,  the 
indigence,  and  the  depression  of  the  once  suffering  children  of 
God;  and  the  worshipers  in  the  Heavenly  Sanctuary,  the 
guests  at  the  sacrament  above,  having  laid  aside  these  their 
incumbrances,  and  dropped  all  their  badges  of  outward  dis- 
tinction, stand  up  together  in  a  nobler  fellowship  than  this 
earth  knows, — the  fellowship  of  "the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect.'''' 

7.  Thus  variously  characterized,  the  Church  in  Heaven  is, 
still  further  glorious.  There  is  a  glory  in  its  rest,  in  its 
joy,  and  in  its  actiOxV. 

In  its  REST,  there  is  glory.  No  sorrow,  no  suffering,  no 
tears,  no  death,  darken  its  radiance.  Its  repose  is  the  calm, 
which  surrounds  the  moveless  throne  of  God  ;  a  living  calm, 
a  repose  fearless  of  interruption. 

In  its,  JOY,  also,  there  is  glory  : — a  beaming  of  "  the  fulness  of 
God  "  upon  the  sanctuary  of  His  chosen.     The  joy  of  the 


212  THK    CEIUllCII    UNIVERSAL. 

Church  in  Heaven  is  the  sunlight  of  eternal  holiness  and  eter- 
nal happiness,  shining  through  the  souls  that  worship  there.  It 
is  the  everlasting  light  of  God's  love  in  their  hearts. 

And  in  the  action  of  the  Church  in  Heaven,  there  is  glory: — 
the  strength,  the  liarmony,  the  intelligence,  of  a  perfect  Body, 
governed  by  one  perfect  Head,  moved  by  one  perfect  will, 
and  tending  to  one  infinite  good.  The  members  of  that  Body, 
are  ufifainiing  spirits.  "  They  rest  not,  day  and  night,"  in 
their  divine  employ.  No  clogs  of  sense,  no  burtlien  of  the 
flesh,  no  dull,  and  earthly,  and  weary  affections  weigh  them 
down.  In  their  worship  they  never  flag :  in  their  search  for 
knowledge  they  never  tire :  and  in  their  labor  of  love  they 
never  grow  heartless.  Energies  worthy  of  the  Redeemed  are 
alive  there.  Whether  they  sing  the  song  of  those,  who,  have 
been  saved ;  or  study  adoringly  into  the  wonders  of  the  Divine 
character  and  of  His  plan  of  Redemption;  or  wander,  discursive, 
amidst  His  boundless  \vorks  ;  or  trace  the  streams  of  knowledge 
up  to  their  fountains  in  the  eternal  hills  ; — whether  they  do 
one,  or  the  other,  or  all,  of  these  things,  they  alike  put  forth 
the  activities  of  free  and  noble,  sinless  and  mighty  spirits. 
Their  activities  are  all-glorious  ! 

8.  The  Church  in  Heaven,  finally,  is  past  all  disastrous 
VICISSITUDE.  It  wades  not  through  the  blood  and  fires  of  suc- 
cessive Pagan  persecutions.  It  passes  through  no  night  of  Dark 
Ao-es.  It  whets  no  sword,  prepares  no  torture,  and  contrives 
no  death,  for  those  servants  of  God,  who  refuse  to  bow  their 
necks  to  the  yoke  of  error.  It  quakes  amidst  the  throes  of  no 
violent  Reformation.  It  languishes  not  amidst  returning  slum- 
ber, declension,  and  decay.  It  dips  no  pen  in  the  gall  of  con- 
troversy, to  stir  up  strife  and  teach  brethren  how  to  hate.  It 
wars  not  against  the  Word  of  God.  It  cloaks  no  infidelity  and 
no  sensuality  under  the  forms  of  combrous  and  unmeaning 
ceremonies.  But,  past  all  disastrous  change,  purified  from  all 
defiling  mixtures,  and  made  perfect  by  the  discipline  of  ages, 
it  is  at  rest  on  its  immovable  foundation,  a  Spiritual  Church, 
full  of  God,  of  His  light.  His  love,  and  His  praise. 

Such  is  Heaven,  considered  as  a  Cuurch.  Is  not  "  the  King's 
daughter  there,  all  glorious  within  I  "     Is  not  "  her  clothing  of 


THE    CHUUCH    IN    HKAVEN.  213 

wrought  goldV  In  describing  her,  I  have  not  dealt  in  vain 
imaginations.  The  gold,  with  which  I  have  shown  her  vesture 
to  be  wrought,  has  been  dug  from  the  mines  of  inspired  truth  ; 
of  truth,  inspired  by  Him,  to  whom  all  things  in  Heaven  and 
on  Earth,  are  visible.  The  characteristics  of  the  glorified 
Church  above,  are  all  characteristics  of  the  True  Church  below  ; 
— only  they  are  but  imperfectly  manifested  in  the  present 
world.  Their  perfection  is  seen  nowhere  but  in  the  world, 
where  God  appears  unveiled  to  the  eye  of  His  "  saints  in  light." 

If,  then,  it  may  be  supposed,  that  any  of  the  readers  of  this 
book  have  heretofore  been  thoughtless  and  careless  of  their 
souls,  I  would  ask  them  a  parting  question  ; — Will  you  go  and 
join  that  "glorious  Church," — that  Church  "without  spot  or 
wrinkle,"  that  Church  which  is  "  holy  and  without  blemish  %  " 
If  you  hope  to  live  in  Heaven,  you  must  be  willing,  you  must 
be  FIT,  to  become  members  of  the  Church  in  Heaven.  But, 
how  is  this  \  You  hesitate.  You  are  not  ready  to  join  even 
the  Church  on  Earth.  You  do  not  feel  prepared,  or  fit  for  fel- 
lowship with  the  saints  in  this  their  comparatively  imperfect 
state.  How,  then,  can  you  go  and  join  that  perfect,  that  glo- 
rious Church  above  %  Would  to  God  you  were  ready  for 
membership  here,  sincere,  believing,  and  aliectionate  member- 
ship, with  the  true,  though  as  yet  but  partially  sanctified  dis- 
ciples of  Christ.  On  such  a  readiness  God  would  smile,  and 
ripen  it  into  a  perfect  preparation  for  what  awaits  His  own  in 
Heaven. 

But,  the  subject,  thus  carried  up  to  its  final  issues,  respects 
specially  those,  who  are  already  members  of  the  Church  on 
Earth  ;  and  the  principal  thought,  which  it  should  keep  alive 
in  their  consideration,  is  this. 

The  members  of  the  Church  on  Earth  ought  to  regulate  their 
whole  course  of  life,  associatio?i,  habit,  and  feeling  with  reference 
to  future  membership  in  the  Church  in  Heaven.  The  true  Church 
here,  is  more  than  a  type  of  the  glorified  Church  there.  This 
Earthly  is  more  than  a  '■'■  pattern^^  of  that  Heavenly  thing.  They 
are  parts  of  one  and  the  same  Communion  and  Fellowship. 
The  Earthly  is  preparatory  to  the  Heaven]3\     The  one  is  a 


214  THE    CHCTKCH   UNIVERSAL. 

school  for  education  and  discipline  ;  the  other  is  an  endless 
life  for  action  and  for  enjoyment.  The  one  is  the  Porch  ;  the 
other,  the  Great  Temple  itself.  The  one  is  youth,  tender,  im- 
pressible youth ;  the  other  manhood,  firm,  vigorous  manhood. 
If  then,  the  child  should  carefully  train  and  fashion  himself  for 
the  duties  and  the  destiny  of  the  man,  so  should  the  Christian 
on  Earth  regulate  his  AV'hole  course  of  life,  association,  habit 
and  feeling,  with  strict  reference  to  his  future  standing  as  a 
member  of  the  Church  in  Heaven.  He  should  do  every  thing 
here,  which  he  would  approve  there;  and  nothing  here,  which 
he  would  there  condemn.  Imperfect  light  and  knowledge  here 
may  keep  him  from  always  seeing  what  he  wouM  there  either 
approve,  or  condemn  ;  and  the  feebleness  of  nature  may  some- 
times render  him  unable  to  do,  or  to-  avoid,  what  he  knows  he 
ought  to  do,  or  to  avoid.  But,  so  far  as  he  seeSj  or  can  be  made 
to  see,  what  would  be  either  a,pproved  or  condemned  in 
Heaven,  and  so  far  as  he  has,  or  can  obtain,  strength  either  t& 
do,  or  to  avoid  doing  it ; — he  should  scrupulously  regulate  the 
present  with  reference  to  the  future.  He  should  habitually 
live  as  though  his  next  communion  were  to  be  made  in  "  the 
Church  of  the  First-born,"  and  at  the  table  in  Heaven. 

And  yet,  how  few  ever  think  of  making  this  the  rule  of 
their  present  Christian  life.  How  few  regulate  their  inter- 
course with  the  world  by  this  rule.  How  few,  by  this,  regulate 
even  their  intercourse  with  their  fellow  Christians.  How  few 
think  of  this  either  in  their  business,  or  in  their  devotions  ;  and 
how  few  practice  according  to  it,  in  either  their  pleasures,  or 
their  charities. 

The  cases,  in  which  these  suggestions  will  apply  themselves, 
can  be  known  only,  or  may  be  known  best,  by  each  individual 
member  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  This  book,  however,  must 
not  have  its  close,  without  an  expression  of  the  deep  and  sol- 
emn conviction,  that,  if  there  can  be  tears  in  that  world, 
where  "  all  tears  are  wiped  away  from  all  faces,"  Christians 
will  shed  them,  when  they  come  to  look  down  from  their  seats 
on  high  upon  the  courses  in  life  which  they  have  been  pursu- 
ing,— upon  the  present  state  of  their  associatioas,  their  habitS;, 


THE    CHURCH    IN    HEAVEN.  215 

and  their  feelings ; — so  full  of  conformity  with  the  world,  so 
dull,  so  languid,  so  selfish,  so  slow  to  good,  so  little  like  what 
THEY  ought  to  be,  who  profess  to  believe  that  "  their  names 

ARE  WRITTEN  IN  HEAVEN." 

Let  us  listen,  then,  to  the  voice  which  is  sounding  in  our 
ears  :  "  Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light:"  and  as  we  hear,  let  us  rouse  our- 
selves, gird  up  the  loins  of  our  mind,  and  henceforth  live  liko 
men,  who  do  indeed  "wait  for  their  Lord." 


THE    END. 


I 


•^r 


